


Try me, I dare you

by Youtube_Trash



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: Angst, Delirious is a stowaway, Evan is the captain, Everyone loves Evan, Fluff, Issues, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Science fiction AU I guess, Violence, hi, how do you tag, i still don't know how to tag, kind of, maybe smut, pretty gay, this really took a turn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2018-10-19 11:29:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 38,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10638930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youtube_Trash/pseuds/Youtube_Trash
Summary: Sassy Del vs. Sassy and Uptight Evan. Evan is the uptight captain of his vessel, getting resources from other planets to Earth, so the humans there can prosper there. Then everything changes when he meets a blue eyed stranger on his ship. A blue eyed stranger that immediately tries to kill him.





	1. Arranged

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeeeyyyy! I just had this idea at three in the morning the other night, so here I am writing this. Hopefully, it'll be good. Please enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of just a fun thing I was thinking about. Hope ye enjoy. Chapter structure is a little weird, but I think it came out pretty good!

"Mr. Fong! Excuse me, Mr. Fong!"

"What do you want Cindy?"

"Mr. Fong, there's a message from Earth."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "That hasn't happened in years. What do they want?"

"A package. They need one of our hydration simulator components. They say they'll resupply us with everything else if we give them that."

"That's fine. Tell them we'll be there in a few days, Earth time."

"Will do sir."

"Thank you Cindy, you're dismissed." Evan turned around and continued walking towards his quarters.  _This is tiring..._

**Welcome Captain.**

"Hey TB. How's your day?" He walked into his bedroom and started changing into his evening uniform. 

**Tyler and Craig tried to shut me down again.**

Evan sighed. If there was a list for the most annoying people on the ship, Tyler and Craig would be at the top of it. Evan looked at himself in the mirror and slicked his hair back.  _I can't through them off though. They're my best engineers._ He snorted at his joke quietly.

**Oh, is our captain actually laughing. I haven't heard that since the day I was created.**

"Shut up TB." He smiled. "Do I look good?"

**Your mother set up another potential wife?**

"Yep."

**You look good, sir.**

"Thank you. Will you please signal to Tyler and Craig to come to my quarters? And don't let them leave until I get back."

**Yes sir.**

Evan walked out of his quarters and along the long hallways of his ship. This all started years ago when humans destroyed all the resources on earth. In a last ditch attempt, they set up the SEPFR. The Space Exploration Program For Resources. Nowadays, everyone calls it the SepFor. Evan wasn't supposed to be captain of this ship. He was going to be the head engineer, but his dad disappeared. He was next in line, so when he disappeared, the burden fell onto Evan. Evan wasn't a strict man, he disliked being in power, but his mother was. And his mother scares him. Evan was 28 this year, and his mother demands that he gets a wife on the ship and produces offspring for the sake of the ship. For the sake of  _our family's legacy_ , specifically. Evan walked down the hallways of his ship, making his way to the dining area, where he knew his mom would be. He disliked being captain, but he absolutely  _adored_ his ship. It was mostly black, with yellow lights that lit it up everywhere. His quarters were right next to the bridge, which was right in front of huge see-through panels. Evan liked to go there when everyone was dismissed and (hopefully) asleep and watch the stars go by. As a child born on earth, it never gets old. His ship was three "stories" tall. It was huge though. The bottom level was for storing all the resources, the second level was engines, mechanics, everything that regulates life on the ship, and the top level was housing and living spaces. And of course, where the ship is driven. Everything had a comfortable, welcoming glow to it. Evan loved it. He knew it like the back of his hand, which is not only necessary but useful. There were issues of course. He misses Earth. Oh, how he misses Earth. Space gets dreary and boring. It's beautiful and dangerous, but dreary. Earth has its charm, and Evan misses that from his childhood.

He made his way into the dining area. It's set up like a huge restaurant, not a cafeteria, as there weren't that many people on the ship. He quickly spotted his mother and walked over to her. He bowed deeply. "Mother."

"Evan."

Evan didn't say anything. He knew better.

"Rise, son."

Evan rose, hands behind his back. 

"This is Julia, she'll be who you're meeting with today."

"Hi." Julia was very pretty, and Evan knew her well. She was the head chef, in charge of the crops, in charge of the food synthesizer, and she makes amazing food. He's shared a good few words with her, and felt like they were almost friends. He had a feeling that would go to shit today. She was a small, petite girl. She had long, wavy hair and too much makeup on. But like most people on this ship, her hands were scarred.

"Hey Julia."

His mother clicked her tongue at that.  _Shit, too casual._

"Sit down. I'll get you two your drinks and food." She stood up and clomped away in her stilettos.

Evan sighed and sat down across from Julia."Let's clear this up before she comes back." He ran his hands through his hair. "You don't want to marry me."

Julia sighed in relief and relaxed in her chair. "Oh thank the heavens. No offense, but I  _really_ don't want to marry you. You know, I have a boyfriend. Your mom just dragged me here and kinda demanded I marry you, and I mean, you're the captain, if they were your orders, I can't go against them."

"Yeah, believe me, not my orders. Just get through the night, then we won't have to meet again."

Julia nodded and stiffened up as they heard the distinctive stiletto sounds. 

"So, Julia, what do you think of my boy?" Evan's mom sat next to Julia after putting two extravagant plates of food in front of them both..

Julia smiled. "He's very polite. Handsome, too." She chuckled lightly.

Evan chuckled awkwardly. He never knows how to handle these, even if this is like the thirtieth time he's done this. Luckily, there was food that he could distract himself with. He quietly dug into his food as his mom bombarded poor Julia with questions about herself.  _This is usually how the first half of the meal goes._ Mom bombards the suitor with questions, then leaves for the second half to leave them alone. That's when they go their separate ways, and Evan explains to his mother that he didn't like her.

And the evening passed as thus. Evan was not surprised. So, when he was walking back to his quarters to go chew out Craig and Tyler and his mom cut him off and slapped him, he froze in place.

"Mom! What the hell?" He said, rubbing his cheek.

"Again, Evan? Really? Do you know how hard it is to set these things up? There aren't that many girls on the ship you know!"

Evan sighed. "I know. I'm the captain mom. I have to know. I've told you before, I don't want these arrangements anyways. I'm young, I'll make sure that I give a suitable child to become the next captain before I die. Now, get out of my way, I need to go discipline some reckless boys because I'm  _the captain_."

"Honey, the chances of you dying before then, or disappearing before that are high! As the captain, you have a higher chance of being assassinated, there are thousands of possibilities! Do you remember how hard it was to become captain without your father? Do you remember the days where you would come home with whip wounds on your chest and back? You would come to me and sob like you were dying, and I, your mother had to take care of you and your wounds! You need to make sure that doesn't happen to your child, so you need to be ALIVE to help them."

Evan glared down at his mother. "You are never allowed to bring those memories back up. While I'm alive, I will make sure that no one has to go through what I did, not even a child." His mother shivered. Evan got really terrifying sometimes, when he was really angry. It was cold, ruthless anger.

"But-"

"You may be mother, but I am still your captain. Move. This is not your son's request, this is your captain's order. Do, you understand?"

"Evan-"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

She nodded quietly, and bowed before walking off. 

"Oh, and no more arranged marriage proposals." He called after her.

She didn't respond and Evan felt a wave of guilt. His mother scared him and was strict, but it's just because she loved him. He knew that. When his dad disappeared, she died inside, and Evan became her entire world. He rubbed the back of his head and walked to his quarters, shrugging off his overcoat and ruffling his hair.

"Once again, hey TB."

**Hello. I heard what happened out there. That was cruel sir.**

"Maybe, but still. Thank you for the concern TB. Craig! Tyler!" He called.

There was lots of banging before both men appeared before him, both covered in grease and oil splotches. They saluted him. Evan rolled his eyes. "You know you don't have to do that with me. Stupid boys."

"Well, I mean,  _captain_ , TB was lecturing us about how we're too disrespectful." Tyler said sarcastically, leaning on Craig, completely relaxed.

Evan pulled off his tight white captain's shirt and walked to his bedroom, flopping on the bed. "Get in here you two."

They followed, chuckling at their captain's ease in front of them. His mom would probably shit herself if she saw how casual her son was being right now. 

Evan spoke to them, his bed muffling his voice. "I'm pretty sure TB was talking about how you need to respect  _her_ more, not me."

Craig slapped Tyler's shoulder. "See? I fucking told you, you shit."

"It was a joke Mini, stupid."

Evan rolled over and eyed Tyler. "Mini?"

"New nickname for silly Craig here. It's 'cause of how small his dic-" He was cut off by an abrupt slap to the back of his head by Craig.

"They call me that in the engines because i wiggle my way through smaller spaces, not because I'm actually any smaller."

Evan snorted. "You wiggle your dick through smaller spaces?"

"SHUT UP MR.OH-I'M-SO-COCKY-BECAUSE-I'M-CAPTAIN!" Craig retorted, making Evan laugh again.

"Seriously though, two major things to talk about right now." Evan sat up and crossed his legs, looking at Tyler and Craig with intense eyes, causing them to sober up immediately. "Firstly, why were you trying to disable TB?"

Tyler sighed. "All the engineers and programmers have a bet about which can shut down TB first. We've been trying for three years. Everyone wants to mess with you and her."

Evan chuckled lightly. "That's fine I guess. Good luck though. I helped build her myself. If you guys can do it, great, but don't permanently damage her. So go for it."

**DO NOT GO FOR IT, PLEASE!**

"Hold your own TB, you can do it. Secondly." Evan pointed to his earring, which was now glowing bright orange. "Have you two been getting these messages? They are pouring in from Earth at an astonishing rate."

Tyler pointed to his own, which was green at the moment, and Craig's was orange as well. "Yeah, I've been getting them." Craig said.

Tyler shook his head. "I've gotten squat. Maybe mine's broken." 

The earrings are like earpieces, but more advanced. They are all connected on one large interface and they are used to communicate fast. Or punish fast. Everyone important had one, and they get immediate messages and transmissions from Earth designated by the captain. Evan hated that, so he got his friend Daithi, a genius programmer, to help hack the system, so that some people could get transmissions automatically, without Evan having to send them. This took years to accomplish.

"We got instructions to go to Earth and pick up a package in return for dropping off our hydration simulator. But it's so messy, there are way too many messages for a simple package. It's muddled too, I can't make anything out specifically. What do you two think? Keep in mind that no matter who sent for us to go back to Earth, we have to. Either way, we have to go back, or they'll kill us, but what do you think this is?"

Craig rubbed his chin. "Honestly? It feels like someone desperate has sent this message, someone that the officials don't want to be desperate and call us. There are a lot of mixed messages about how we must go, and how they are begging us not too. But like you said, we were given the order, we must go now, no matter what they say. I think we just need to be extremely cautious about how we handle this." Tyler nodded in agreement.

Evan sat there, thinking for a moment. "Okay, Get the engines prepped, we'll be at Earth by tomorrow. I need to sleep. Talk to TB if there are any issues you need my help. DO NOT signal me with my earring unless it's an emergency, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Tyler waved as they walked out. 

"Bye Evan!" Craig called out.

Evan put his head in his hands. 

"I'm worried TB."

**You're always worried.**

"Yeah."

**Sir, get some sleep. I'll wake you up when we're nearing Earth. Everything will be okay, I know it.**

Evan fell asleep thinking that he should apologize to his mom.

* * *

The package pick up went too smoothly. The amount of static coming from his earring was giving him a headache, but everything seemed to be in order. He gave them the hydration simulator, and they gave him the usual list and sent him off. But Evan just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. Everyone was eating and celebrating getting something from earth, which turned out to be new food that was genetically modified on Earth. It was quite the feast.

Evan felt so off though. While everyone was eating, he made sure to ditch the feast. He walked down the hallways, and made his way to the second floor. The engines. When he was upset and uncomfortable, he'd go there. Everything was mechanical and easy to understand. He walked around down there, recording any and all faults. No temperature fluctuations, no holes, no bad noises. No chemicals either. He had rounded a corner when a chill ran up his spine. For some reason, his mother's words echoed in his mind:  _As the captain, you have a higher chance of being assassinated._

He quickly pulled out his gun, a typical 9-mm pistol, with some perks in aim, sound, and recoil. Being in the best time of technology ever in human history had it's advantages. _No one's assassinating me today._

That was when he felt a cold blade shoved into his side. He yelled and fell onto the floor.  _OF COURSE THAT'S MY FUCKING LUCK!_ He gasped at the pain and the blood seeping into his shirt. He started to pant, but turned around to get a look at the man who stabbed him. He didn't recognize him at all, he was wearing a tunic-like tank top thing with a hood. It looked stupid, but there were intricate blue patterns along it that glowed subtly. Evan couldn't make out his face, but his glowing blue eyes were hard to miss. It might just be the lighting, but it sent shivers up Evan's spine, again. There was a small floating white sphere next to him, and he stood over Evan, glaring at him like no one Evan has ever seen. Evan attempted to sit up and pull his gun out from underneath his body, but was promptly met with a foot to the chest. He collapsed on the ground again, ungracefully. He whimpered at the pain of him stretching his stab wound like that. The man leaned down slowly and yanked the knife out, making Evan scream, black dots scattered across his vision, he panted heavily and felt the blood pour out of his wound.  _Shit, it's too big, I'm going to bleed out._ He reached up to his earring and tapped it, screaming at it with his thoughts that he needed help. He got halfway through help when the man cursed. 

"Shit! I didn't know you were important. Fuuuuuccckkk." He said lazily, and then leant down and tore out the earring full force, leaving a long hole in Evan's ear. Evan screamed in pain again, because this man not only ripped a long hole in his ear, but ripped all the wiring out of it too. He could feel his ear stuff up and buzz. He knew that ear wouldn't be functional if he lived. Evan tried to sit up and crawl to safety at least, but he could feel the energy pour out of him with every single drop of blood that fell.

The man pocketed the earring and got off Evan. He took the knife and started to run off. "Name's Delirious. Have fun dying!"

And he was gone.

_I should've apologized to mom._  


	2. Hoot

“Hoot! Scan this now!” Delirious tossed the earring to his companion and continued racing along the winding hallways of the engines. He cursed as he brushed past some particularly hot metal. The lighting was dim and he was sweating a lot. “Tell me who I just stabbed!” 

Hoot, being a silent robot, caught and scanned the earring. It shook and started issuing a series of beeps. Morse code. A lost art. And perfect for Del.

Del froze when the last sound came from his companion. “I just stabbed the captain. The captain of this vessel?”

A definitive yes from Hoot.

“SHIT! WHAT IS MY LUCK?! NO ONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOWN HERE ANYWAYS!”

_ Jo-Del! You must be quiet! People will hear and come!  _ The series of beeps rang throughout the engines.

Delirious clicked his tongue and tried to think.  _ So, what can I do? I stabbed the captain. He definitely sent a distress signal. People will be here any minute. Fight? _

He jumped at the sounds of fast footsteps approaching.  _ Hide it is. _

He dove behind a big fuel tank. There were voices and before he knew it, he saw many men racing downstairs. One was huge and a mole on his chin, another had glasses, and one was very buff with short hair.

“Brock! We don't know the situation but be prepared for anything!” The one with glasses said. The short haired one nodded.

They all raced by and Delirious paused. 

_ Everyone is going to be on alert now. Be careful sir. _

“Gotcha Hoot. Be prepared. Thanks.” Del scanned the room. The exit doors were basically in front of him and he could hear lots of noises from where he stabbed the captain. He estimated he had about another five minutes.  _ Fuck it. _

He sprinted for the doors, Hoot not far behind him. He opened them and stumbled into the hallway. He exhaled in relief. No one was there, thank god. “Okay Hoot. The plan hasn't changed now. We just had a little setback. Go ahead and con-”

**FOUND HIM.**

Delirious felt a heavy amount of air fill in around him. All the doors near him slammed shut and he knew something was wrong. 

**Give me two minutes sir.**

Then it clicked. Delirious quickly covered his mouth and stopped breathing. Fucking rich people and their chemicals. He could feel himself starting to lose consciousness and he fell to his knees.  _ I can't do it. I was supposed to do it. I just got here. Fuck, it can't end like this! _

He attempted to rise but could tell he was fading. He remembers hearing a distinctive clunk of Hoot hitting the floor before everything went to black.

* * *

Delirious woke with a start and immediately took in his surroundings. Wrists were bound to the chair, legs were chained to the ground.  _ Dammit, that makes it hard. I could've broken the chair. _

“Oh, he's awake.”

“Obviously Marcel.”

The man Marcel shifted so he could glare at Delirious. Del glared back instinctively. 

“What should we do Lui? Evan said to wait until he could be here.”

The Lui guy paused. “Answer some of his questions I guess. Evan’s in surgery and we don't know if it'll be another few hours or another few days.”

“Hopefully a few hours.” Marcel said worriedly.  _ A captain everyone seems to like. Greeeaaaatttt…  _

“So,” Lui crossed his arms and walked toward Delirious.”, you got a question?”

“Two, actually.”

“Go ahead and ask us. We’ll answer to the best of our ability,” Marcel said. “Don't take this for granted. We have a right to refuse your questions.”

Delirious couldn't help but snort. “Your guys’ system on how to treat prisoners is way to nice.”

“Maybe.”

Delirious continued scanning the room. “Where’s Hoot?” He felt a crushing worry overwhelm him.

“Hoot? Was that your little robot thing?”

“Yes! Where is he?” Del was getting more and more frantic. He had built Hoot himself, from scratch, and through scavenging. Hoot was his companion. In many ways. 

“TB took him, and is probably interrogating him by decoding him.”

Del’s brain ran into overdrive. “You can't decode him! There is extremely delicate parts in that robot! EXTREMELY! He knows a lot too.”

Lui raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

Del leaned back in his chair and pulled off his hood, revealing a bunch of curly brown hair with blue tips, accompanied by an undercut. He smirked at Marcel and Lui. “I thought it was my time to be asking questions.”

Marcel clicked his tongue. “You motherfucker.”

“Yeah, yeah. Second question.” He turned his head. “Where am I? This isn't a dungeon or gallows or anything. Most ships would've killed me already.”

“True. We don't run like other ships, unfortunately. Oh, if I could kill you right now, I would without hesitation. But Evan said we absolutely could not. You're in a guest quarters. Which is stupid. You should be in the cells with the other criminals and hostages.”

Del rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the compliment. So, this Evan guy. He’s the captain?”

“Duh. And you stabbed him. He could die. Stupid. And you don't get to call him Evan. You don't have the right.”

Del leaned back in his chair and started thinking.  _ How can I get out of this situation? I need Hoot, definitely. But I can't get out with these two guys watching me like a hawk.  _

He sighed. The captain said not to kill him yet, maybe he won't be killed. He guessed he had about a fifty percent chance.

They say in silence for a while, with Marcel and Lui talking among themselves.

Delirious was getting more and more anxious. If the captain did die, he'd be dead. 

After what seemed like hours, Marcel shot up from where he was sitting. Lui looked at him. “News?”

“Brock says he's conscious.”

“What?! How the hell?! He was bleeding too much. And just had surgery!”

“Fuck if I know.” Marcel paused again. “But we need to go. Captains orders and all.”

“Don't try anything please. If we have to kill you, then we’ll get in trouble and that'd suck.” Lui said, unhooking Delirious from the chains, while Marcel worked on the wrist straps.

Delirious got up and rubbed his wrists. “Thanks I guess.”

“Don't thank us yet. C’mon. Follow me, and seriously, don't try anything.” Marcel said, walking out the door. Delirious put his hands in his pockets and started walking behind Marcel, humming one of his favorite tunes from Earth.

* * *

“Hey, Evan.”

Evan looked away from his tablet and eyed the person in the room. “Ah! Hey Moo! How am I doing?” He winked.

Brock chuckled but looked worriedly at him. “Good, apparently. I have no idea how you're conscious but-”

“Yes you do. Don't lie. You know how resilient I am. I've had worse things happen to me and you know it.” 

Brock glared at him before sighing and looking at Evan’s vitals. “You dumbass. One of these days, you'll die.”

Evan looked at the ceiling. “Luckily I have you to help patch me up again.”

Brock nodded at Evan’s vitals and waved at him to turn over so he could feel Evan’s wound. “You're lucky to have me, and to be born in this century. If we didn't have the technology we did, you'd be dead.” He applied pressure to Evan’s wound which was held shut with a click-stay biodegradable device, developed years ago. Took the place of stitches. Painless to take out. Perfect for helping heal. The skin all around the wound was still tender, but Brock was checking for any fluids that come from the wound, whether it's blood or anything. 

Evan winced in pain. Brock eyed the scars that danced all over Evan’s sides and chest. He knew better than to mention it. “Moving on to more pressing matters Evan; Who did this to you?”

Evan looked at the boring hospital wall and remembered the eyes. “A guy that called himself Delirious. Don't know. TB helped catch him though. Tell Marcel and Lui to bring him by.”

Brock nodded and tapped his earring. “They'll be by soon. They aren't holding him far.” He applied pressure to Evan’s stomach. “Does this hurt too?”

Evan shook his head. “You put in a new earring while you were operating?”

“Find out for yourself.”

Evan felt his left ear, the one that wasn't torn apart on the earlobe, and sure enough, there was an earring.

“Thank you.”

Brock rolled Evan back over. “You're welcome. Bad news though. You're on bed rest.”

Evan sat up angrily. He felt a wave of nausea hit him and leant back down. “And  _ that's  _ why.” Brock said, not even looking at him. He was pulling up his chart and was updating it on the medical computers. “It may not be the worst injury you've had, but it is bad. Rest up. I'll be back in a while.”

“Thanks.”

Brock chuckled. “You're still being billed.”

“Bitch.”

Brock laughed and walked out. Evan sat up and pulled out his tablet again. “TB, talk to me.”

**Hey Evan. Feeling better?**

“Yeah, thanks. What're we looking at?”

**Honestly? I'm not really sure. This robot is exceptional. I can't even get past the firewall. These parts are ancient and it speaks in a weird series of noises. It's not in my program.**

“Shit. What about the man?”

**All I know is that he is fairly intelligent. He knew when I drugged him. I don't know much, except that he's coming towards you know. Marcel and Lui are with him.**

Evan sighed. “Thanks TB. Try to figure out how that robot speaks. I'll take care of the man.”

**Yes sir.**

Evan set his tablet down and rubbed his head.  _ How did this Delirious guy get here? He must be from earth. Why did his hood thing and eyes glow?  _

There was something about the guy that intrigued Evan. Was it jealousy? Did he admire the guy’s confidence? Well, he did stab him. Maybe it's curiosity?

Evan knows he's dangerous and he should just kill him. That's what has been embedded in his brain. But he must be here for a reason. Depending on that reason, Evan will know what to do with him.

Evan debated this until there was a knock on the door.

“Evan?”

“Bring him here Marcel.”

“Sir.” Marcel walked into the room, followed by the man and Lui.

Evan stared at the man. His hood was off, and the light showed a string of tattoos down his left arm. But nothing was glowing. His eyes were light blue and his hair was curly brown with blue tips that match his eyes. It took Evan aback. It didn’t help that Delirious was humming a tune. It was very unsettling.

“He caused any trouble?”

Lui snorted. “Besides almost killing you? No. How are you awake right now?”

Evan chuckled lightly. “Who knows? I should be dead, but here I am.”

Delirious looked around the room, still humming.

“Go ahead. We’ll make sure nothing happens.”

Evan looked at Delirious. This guy looked about his age, and he was too calm in front of the guy he stabbed. Evan couldn't read him at all.

“Actually, can you two leave us alone?”

Delirious stared at him, eyes scanning Evan. Evan could practically see him planning something. An escape maybe?

Marcel gaped at Evan. “Are you fucking crazy?! This guy tried to kill you! And you want to be alone with him?!”

Evan glared at him. “TB will be listening the entire time, and I need to talk one on one with this man. I'll be fine.”

“But Evan-”

“No buts. I am your captain. You will listen to me.”

Marcel sighed. “Yes sir. Let's go Lui.”

They walked out, leaving Evan and Delirious alone in the room.

“They're right, you know.” Delirious said, walking around the bed so he can lean on the wall. 

“Probably. But I do have TB as my backup plan. She beat you once already.”

Delirious clicked his tongue. 

“So, what do you want to know?”

“Where to start? You're Delirious right?”

“I'm surprised you remember. But yeah. You're Evan?”

“Yeah. Captain of the vessel. I'd say nice to meet you, but I think we’re past that.”

“I’d like to think so.”

“Your robot friend-”

“Hoot.” Delirious interrupted.

“Excuse me?” 

“His name is Hoot.”

“Like the sound an owl makes?”

“Exactly like that.”

Evan laughed at that, making Delirious defensive. “Don't laugh at how I named my robot!”

“No-no, I just thought I was the only one that named my robot weirdly! TB stands for teddy bear! I loved teddy bears when I was on earth and I don't have any up here so I named my robot Teddy Bear. Everyone made fun of me for it, so I call her TB now. Plus, she gets embarrassed.”

Delirious couldn't help but snort at that. “That name’s even worse than Hoot.”

“Rude. But on a more serious note, why'd you stab me?”

Delirious sighed. “You were in the way. I didn't mean to stab anyone, I was planning to be a simple stowaway.”

“You sent the message from earth. That's why no one wanted us to come.”

“Bingo! They all wanted me dead. Still probably do.”

Evan glared at the man. “And that means they'll want us dead for “helping” you.”

Delirious grinned devilishly. “Yup. Which mean you can't get rid of me now.”

_ Well, shit. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again! Sorry for the absence, as I have been SUPER busy. Wrote whenever I got the chance, which was a great stress reliever. It doesn't help that I've been binge-watching Del play Outlast 2. I love it. His disgusted noises make me laugh every time. Anyways, here's another chapter, I'll try to update soon, and as always, I hope ye enjoy!


	3. So Why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hints at what's to come

“Marcel! Get in here, and Lui, go get Brock please!” 

Evan glared at Delirious. He just made his life so much more difficult. 

“Yeah, it's my fault, but I don't feel bad, don't worry.”

“Asshat.”

Delirious bowed. “At your service.”

“Evan.”

Evan looked at the doorway where Marcel was standing. “Make sure he,” he pointed at Delirious, who smiled,“doesn't die. This bag of crap absolutely cannot die. Put him in the room next to mine so TB can keep a good eye on him. Get Daithi and Tyler up here as soon as possible please.”

“Evan-”

“I'll answer your questions later Marcel, sorry.”

Marcel sighed and walked out, muttering under his breath.

“You seem to be popular among your servants.”

Evan shot him a glare. “Friends. Not servants, friends. Old friends too.”

“You've been treating them like they are your servants from what I noticed.”

“That's because you're here.” 

Delirious laughed, and it made Evan pause everything. Every thought, every little thing came to a stop. It was a very distinctive laugh, and a super ridiculous one. But he knew that laugh. He opened his mouth to speak but the man cut him off. 

“Looks like the doctor is here.”

“You know, I have other patients than you Evan.” Brock complained.

Evan hesitated before speaking, still staring at Delirious. “Do a basic examination on this guy please. Once Daithi gets here with Marcel, I'll have you give him a modified transmitter.”

“You wanna give him an earpiece? Are you-”

“Really?” Delirious said quietly. He looked oddly excited. “You'll give me one?”

Evan scoffed. “A special one. It's not as fantastic as you think. Remember, it's how we punish, not just reward.”

Delirious didn't even flinch. He stared at Evan, unwavering.

“Whatever. Delirious right?” Brock said, crossing the room and holding out his hand for a handshake. “I'm Brock, and I'm the head of medical on this ship.”

Delirious raised his eyebrows but took his hand for the handshake. “Name’s Delirious. Nice to meet you.”

“I'd say nice to meet you too, but you did stab one of my friends so I hope you'll excuse me this once.”

“Moo, you're so polite it's scaring him.” Evan said from his bed.

“My bad. But as it turns out, I've just lost my patience with how many patients are coming to the medical bay.”

“Is that just a pun you make every day?”

“How can I not?”

“Just examine him. Make sure he can survive space.”

“Well technically no one can survive space as the lack of gravity and atmosphere-”

“Shut up and go.”

Brock laughed. “Follow me Mr. Delirious.”

He made his way out of the room, Delirious following. 

Evan leaned back in his bed. His side hurt and he definitely couldn't hear out of his damaged ear. He just wanted to sleep but he had to get some things squared away still. He cringed at the thought of the amount of paperwork he'll have to go through. Technology has improved so much but bureaucracies haven't. He knew he should get started but that was just so much work, and he was comfy. He played some of his favorite soothing music and let himself relax. He can’t believe what’s happened in the last two days alone. He chuckled. Yes, he can. He’s had more surprising things happen. But this whole Earth wanting to hunt them down thing is officially horrible. Going against people that had complete power over you for your entire life? Yeah, not good. And it doesn’t help that SepFor is merciless in how they handle criminals and anyone who helps them. Getting caught would mean death for his crew, and unfortunately, a fate worse than death for himself and Delirious. Evan frowned. He can deal with a fate worse than death. He deserves that.  _ I don’t. _

“I brought David.”

Evan looked at the doorway. “Hey Marcel, Nogla.”

“Hey Evan. How was getting stabbed?”

“About as much fun as you’d imagine.”

“No surprise there. What’s up? What do you need my pure genius for?” Nogla pushed his glasses up and leaned against the doorframe, smirking.

“I need you to modify another earpiece.”

“Easy. I already did yours.”

“No, one for the guy that stabbed me.”   
“What?” Marcel said. “Evan, that is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard you say. You can’t be serious.”

“I am. And obviously I’m not going to give him a normal one, or even one of our modified ones. That’s why I had you two come. I need a very special earpiece for him. But I need to confirm something with him as well. But for now, can you try to find a way to get the earpiece so it can only talk to certain people, and he can’t break through it? Leave the shocks, he is still a prisoner. Just try to-”

“I get it.” Nogla said. “You have something else in mind too, if I know you at all. Which I do. Call me when you want me to figure that out.”

“Perfect. You and Marcel can go.” 

Nogla slouched off, marcel in tow, shaking his head.

Not long after, Brock arrived with Delirious again. “He seems pretty healthy. There are a few things I’ve sent to TB. She’ll elaborate on that to you later. Based off what I can tell, he’s had a rough life though. Covered in scars. It reminds me of someone.” He looked at Evan, eyebrows raised. Evan thought to his own scars. “Thanks Brock. Go take a break. I have to talk with Delirious now. Get someone to watch this door too. He’s not allowed to leave until I say so.”

Brock sighed and left, grumbling the entire way.  

Delirious walked across the room and sat in the chair supplied in each room. He looked bored. “Alone with you again, huh?”   
“Unfortunately for you. I’m not happy with you.”

Delirious looked at the wall. “I wish there was a window in here. If I’m going to be trapped here with a bossy captain, then I at least want a window seat.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Have you ever been to Earth?” Delirious interrupted. He stared at Evan, with unfazed, bored eyes.

“Yes, I was born on it.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been there?”

_ Since they found us.  _ “I haven’t been for ten, I dunno, maybe fifteen years?”

Delirious sighed, and a sadness crossed his face. “Did you know they’ve been rebuilding it?”

“Rebuilding?”

“Yeah. I used to work in the greenhouses. There were trees of every kind, some went as high as a ship. Those are called Redwoods. But anyways, it’s beautiful. I miss it a lot already. I thought space was pretty, but with no windows I guess it isn’t really.”

“Sounds nice.”

“You would think.”   
Evan leaned off the back of his bed. “Was it not?”

Delirious’ face hardened and he glared at Evan. “Don’t you have questions for me? I know what you saw in the engines.”

“Why were your clothes and eyes glowing?”

“Simple. Light. More subtle than a flashlight and enough to get you by.”

“What about your eyes? You wouldn’t be able to see if your eyes were glowing for light.”

“No. You’re right.”

“So…” 

Delirious raised his eyebrows and looked at Evan quizzically. “I don’t need to tell you.”

Evan could feel his anger seeping in. “Except you do, because I happen to have a little robot of yours that I can kill at any second.”   
Delirious froze. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me, I dare you.”

“You motherfucker. Don’t hurt Hoot. I’ll kill you.” Delirious got up.

“Oh, there’s no need for that.” Evan smiled and put his hands up for surrender. He smirked at him. “All you have to do is tell me why your eyes glow.”

Delirious plopped back down and put his head in his hands. “I couldn’t see.” He mumbled.

“What?”   
“I WAS BLIND, OKAY?” He yelled, head out of his hands, face showing immense amounts of pain. Evan felt his instincts tell him to run away.  _ This turned dangerous. Never agitate a prisoner. _

“Sorry.” Delirious said. He paused, and then took a deep breath. “I was blind. I wasn’t born with it either, which in many ways, was worse. I knew exactly what I was missing out on. I got caught by bad people in a bad situation when I was young. They blinded me. I’d rather not go into details. Eventually, I pulled a few favors, all of them, and got the leading scientists to help me out. Basically, my eyes are like little cameras. Only my pupils. They kept my natural eye color, which I’m grateful for. They glow in the dark so that I can see more easily. Happy?”

“Fairly. We can use that. I figured as much, that kind of technology is common on this ship. Ever seen a solar flare? Try not to. We have a lot of blind people on this ship. The glowing feature though, that is interesting. You get all that, TB?”

**Yes.**

“Perfect. Go on and let Hoot go. Since I used him as a threat, I deserve to give him back to Delirious.”

**Consider it done.**

“Thanks!” Delirious said, beating Evan to the punch.

“Don’t get cocky.”

Delirious chuckled. “Too late for that.”

“Whatever. Sometimes being cocky can be useful. But I have a question for you, which might lead into more.”   
Delirious sat back down and leaned back. “Go ahead.”

“You talked about what made up Hoot earlier, is that because you built him yourself?”

“Yes.”

“So you know a lot about tech?”

“Obviously.”   
Evan grinned. “Perfect. Next question: Do you know how the earpieces work?”

Delirious raised his eyebrows and leaned forward, interested. “Not very well. I know that wiring is installed, so it has a connected interface with all parts of the cerebrum, every lobe, even the temporal lobe, where the memories are. I also know that installing one does not require brain surgery, and obviously that ripping out one doesn’t kill someone. Unfortunately. Are the wires autonomous as they attach themselves to the brain or is it something else?”

“It’s autonomous.”

“Incredible. Barely anyone on Earth has one. Only important officials, and people that are in contact with vessels like yours. I learned all this from a friend.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that. Everyone here has one, just some people have special ones. Like mine. Oh, and it hurts like hell getting one torn out by the way.”

“Well, you aren't dead, so be grateful.”

“Anyways, here’s what I’m actually interested in. Do you think we can connect the earpiece to your eyes and clothes?”

Delirious stared at Evan, confused. “What? No! That would require eye surgery and winding the wiring along the optic nerve, and that could interfere with my new eyes’ wiring, which was placed there through surgery, not autonomous robotics. And with my clothes? Why?”

Evan stayed silent for a second, thinking. “We could do it, Brock is an incredibly skilled doctor and surgeon. I want to connect it to your clothes so I could-,” He paused. “, no that’s impractical, never mind.” He wanted to use Delirious as a weapon.

“Fine, but still, why?”

“An extra set of eyes, for lack of a better phrase.”

“Don’t make me punch you.”

“No, actually. It’s so I can use you to my advantage.”

“Why do you need me to do that?”

“I don’t think you get it.” Evan glared at the man, and the tension in the room grew to a ridiculous amount. “You destroyed just about everything. My ship is now on the run from what supplied us; what took care of us. Everyone on here is now in danger because of you. I’m sure you had a reason to come here, but whatever it is isn’t your issue anymore. Your issue now is to fix what you’ve destroyed. And you can do that by doing every thing I ask you to do. And right now, that’s use you to my advantage.”

Delirious was quiet for a minute, before nodding lightly.

“That’s what I thought.” Evan shivered. His every instinct was screaming at him to kill this guy. He was dangerous and deserved to die. Assassination attempts of the captain have to be killed. Evan rubbed his right shoulder. The scar there is what taught him that particular lesson.  _ I can’t kill him. I need to use him, think ahead Evan, think ahead. _

“So, Evan, when am I going to-”

Delirious was interrupted by someone running in through the door and hugging Evan so tight Evan yelped in pain.

“Honey, oh hun, thank every god there is that you’re okay, I thought you were going to die, I’m so sorry for all the things I’ve said and done, I was just worried, I don’t want-”

“Mom.” Evan said, pushing lightly on her shoulders. “You’re hurting me.”

Delirious tried to make himself disappear in the corner. 

Evan’s mom leant back. She was a mess, there were tear streaks down her cheeks and her hair was a mess. “Sorry Evan. I just- I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay mom.”

She swelled up a bit. “Why are you awake already?! You should be recovering.”

Evan smiled lightly. “While I was taught how to be captain, I was taught how to recover fast.”

“Not this fast!”

“I’m fine mom.” He looked at his hands. “I’m sorry too. You know, for what I said. You were right, obviously.”

“Did you take care of the bastard that stabbed you?”

Evan glanced to where Delirious was, looking like he was trying to sink into the wall of the room. His mom followed Evan’s eyes and her face hardened when she saw Delirious. “Evan.”

Evan flinched. He knew that tone of voice. 

“Evan, he should be dead. Or on his way to it right now. Not in the same hospital room as you WITH NO ONE HERE TO MAKE SURE HE WON’T KILL YOU!” She yelled.”AND YOU.” She whipped around to face Delirious, who looked like he was looking at the devil itself. She stormed over to where he was and pulled him to her by his shirt. “How DARE you stab my son! You should be killed right now, and I should do it myself!”

“Mom.”

“Do you have any idea who my son is? Who I am?”

“ _ Mom. _ ”

“SPEAK.”

Delirious opened his mouth to speak, honestly terrified.

“MOM.” Evan said, pissed off.

“What?”

“Let him go.”

“Excuse me?!”

Evan sighed. “You’re just scared and worried. I’m okay. He’s okay. But I need you to let him go. I will have TB send you an update with all the information I can offer later. I need you to leave for now.”   
She stared at him for a second before sighing and letting Delirious go. “Try not to show your face to me again.”

She walked to the door. “I love you honey. And, I swear to god, if you aren't going to be more careful, I will kill you myself.” She left the room mumbling about how Evan was just like his father.

Delirious looked at Evan from his corner. “She’s, uh,-”

“Terrifying?”

Delirious gulped. “Yeah.”

“Believe me, I know.” 

Delirious shook his head. “No wonder you’re crazy.”

“Coming from a guy who calls himself Delirious.”

Delirious chuckled. “Fair enough. Can I leave now?”

“Yeah, I’ll get you an escort. Oh, and Hoot is already in your room. You’ll be watched every minute of every day until we get you an earpiece, so please don’t try anything.”

“Fine.”

“Go on.” Evan waved to the door. 

“Um, thanks.” Delirious said after pausing at the door.

“For?”

“Not killing me.”

Evan smiled. “You’re welcome. Don’t make me regret it.”

Delirious smiled lightly and walked out of the room. Evan sighed and clutched his side. It hurt and he was tired. He logged in the information he got today into the computers. He also told TB to send the info to his mom, and to tell David about Delirious’ eyes and earpiece. He dimmed the lights, laid on his side, and drifted off to sleep, exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, it's been a while. I apologize for the long break, finals have been excruciating. But we're done now, and here I am. Hopefully will update this more as summer unfolds. Also fun fact: So far I've enjoyed writing this way more than my other fic. :P Whoops   
> Anyways, you can find me on tumblr at bbs-ship-trash if you have questions or requests or literally anything  
> And as always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!


	4. That was weird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to summarize chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again! I actually really like this chapter, even though it's kinda uneventful. I hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> And I seriously ADORE writing this story, it's crazy fun.  
> I hope it's as fun to read!

“Hello again.” Marcel said coldly.

Delirious sighed. This day has been exhausting. Everything had gone to plan and then it all went to shit. He was in a new environment, and now he was being monitored like he was a rebellious teenager. And apparently, the people watching him thoroughly disliked him. “Hi.”   
“Follow me, I’ll lead you to your room. It’s next to Evan’s, so do yourself a favor and don’t try anything fucking stupid.” Marcel crossed his arms.

“Yeah, I got it. Don’t try anything, blah, blah, blah.”

Marcel was silent for a second before turning around abruptly. “What’d you think of Evan?”

Delirious stepped back, putting a safe distance between him and Marcel. “Excuse me?”

“You talked to him for ages. I want to know. What’d you think of our captain?”

“I’ll tell you as we walk. I’m pretty tired, I’m not going to lie.”   
Marcel nodded and started leading the way again. 

Delirious looked at the ceiling as he walked, watching as the cold grey of the medical wing faded into black and gold. “Umm, well, he’s charming, I give him that. He seems like he knows what he’s doing as a captain, I dunno…”

Marcel nodded lightly. “He’s reliable. He knows what to do, but be careful. There are certain things that are taboo. Be careful what you say and when you say it. He’s very smart, smarter than you think. This is a warning, for Evan’s sake. Not yours. Filter your mouth. If you say something wrong, he’ll kill you with no hesitation.”

Delirious eyed Marcel carefully. “He didn't give off that vibe while talking to me.”

“He hides it well. Just be careful. He’s pretty fucked in the head. Anyone would be with that childhood.”

“What childhood?”

Marcel glanced at him before putting his hands in his pockets and saying nothing .

“What kind of childhood?” Delirious pressed.

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“Excuse me?! You can’t bring it up and tell me nothing!”

“Except I can, because you stabbed the captain, you fugitive.”

“Bu-”

Marcel turned around. “We’re here.”

“Already?” Delirious thought it would be farther from the medical bay.

“Yes. Head on in. You’ll be monitored until we get you a proper earpiece. So, I swear to god,-”

“Don’t try anything stupid, I know. Ever since I got on this ship, this is all you guys have been saying to me. I’ve already stabbed the captain, I don’t think I can do anything more stupid.” He grinned lightly, and walked into his room. Marcel sighed and paced away.

Delirious sighed in relief as soon as he was alone in the room. He slid down the door and pulled his hood up.  _ Shit, shit, shit. Okay, think this through. _

He felt a nudge and looked up to see Hoot. “Little Buddy!” He grabbed him and gave him a quick hug. “I’m glad that stupid captain kept his promise.”

Hoot bobbed up in down in obvious joy. Delirious smiled, and he glanced around the room. His jaw dropped. “Holy shit.”

He has never seen anything so extravagant. The room was made up of golds, blues, greys, and blacks. The furniture was paired perfectly with the ambiance of the room, and everything looked so comfy. And the bed looked big enough for at least five people. Delirious looked at the decorations and chuckled. They were nothing like the decorations on Earth anymore, they were old school. Delirious sighed. No plants. God, he missed the greenhouses. He scanned the room again, just with a more critical eye. Literally. He picked up variations in thermal heat and electromagnetic fields.  _ Shit, it must be his robot, TB. _

He went to the little kitchen area nestled into the corner of the room. He searched around in some cabinets until he pulled out a cup. He filled it with water and set it on the table. Talking in morse code always tore his throat to shreds, but it’s his only option. He took a gulp before speaking and tapping in Morse code. 

“Hoot. You have to contact Luke. Tell him that I fucked up, and I can't seize anything, much less this ship.”

Hoot hovered across the counter from Delirious.

_ Jonathan, I don't know if I can contact Mini Toonz from here. _

“Try. He’ll continue with the plan if you don't contact him. He’ll die.”

_ Jon… _

“Hoot, it'll be my fault. Find a way, I'll make it so you can contact him, even if it means I have to hack the captain’s robot.”

_ I’ll try. _

Delirious sighed in relief. “Thank god.”

**What’re you doing?** TB’s voice rang through the room, making him jump.

“Where’s my privacy?”

**You don't get privacy, you stabbed Evan.**

Delirious took another sip of water and leaned on the counter. “Can't blame you there.”

**What were you doing?**

Delirious snorted. “Talking to myself.”

**With the same noises that Hoot makes?**

Delirious shot up. “How did you know his name is Hoot?” If she figured the Morse code out, Luke is fucked.

**Evan told me. It's obviously a form of communication. So what did you say to Hoot?**

“There's a reason why you don't know the language. Let me spell it out for you: Pri-va-cy. You're not supposed to know.”

**I knew you wouldn't tell me. Just do yourself a favor and-**

“Don't do something stupid. SERIOUSLY. CAN YOU PEOPLE STOP TELLING ME THAT?!”

**It's because it's important. Most of us want to kill you, but Evan gave us an order.**

_ Delirious, be careful, she's a powerful robot. _

Delirious stood up and walked over to the bed, which he ungracefully flopped onto. He wriggled out of his shirt and threw it carelessly by the side of the bed.“I'm exhausted, so I'm going to sleep now. Unless that's too stupid to do.”

**Fine.**

Delirious extended his arms and gestured for Hoot. Hoot zipped into him, and Delirious rolled on his side, clutching Hoot to his chest. He bought his knees up so he was snuggling Hoot. He put his face into the pillow next to his robot. 

Every single emotion you can name hit him at that moment. He felt tears well up in his eyes. Putting on a calm face was nearly impossible. He shut his eyes and sniffed. He needed to figure this out. 

He escaped. After years of planning with Luke and the others. He did it. He felt an immense sense of relief. He got away; away from them. But Luke and the others are still there. They're still slaves working themselves to death.

The corruption on Earth was amazing, in a way. Del was born and raised on Earth, and it was miserable. Earth preaches being the best, being a utopia. That is 100% bullshit. On Earth, whoever isn't a politician or part of the government, including the millions of people working for SepFor, is treated like shit. The middle class went extinct ages ago, there’s the lower class and slaves. They don't call them slaves, they're just unpaid workers, or designated volunteers. Delirious and everyone he knew were part of that. They were treated like dirt. Jonathan held a particular grudge against his owners. They ripped his sight apart.

He needed to make a new plan. Luke, his parents, everyone, they'll be killed if they haven't already. He doesn't have any power here. He was supposed to put a virus in the ship so Hoot could operate it. It should've been a complete stealth mission.  _ Dammit, dammit, dammit. They’re definitely being tortured right now. _

Tears ran into the pillow as Delirious sobbed quietly. Hoot made a long sound and bobbed closer to Del.

“So many lives in my hands. So much time wasted. Hoot, I-I don't know what to do.” He didn't bother to speak in Morse code. Delirious moved so he could look around the room again. He needed to buy time, and that means tricking everyone on the ship, by saying that this was what was supposed to happen. He sighed and let the tears flow down his cheeks. He didn't even care. The lights dimmed and he couldn't help but be grateful. Obviously TB turned them off. 

“Thank you.” He mumbled. There was no response, but he knew she was listening.

He tapped on Hoot, and Hoot immediately started issuing heat to soothe Delirious. Delirious tapped a single phrase before drifting off to sleep: “I miss home.”

* * *

“Evan, Evan, Evan, I fockin’ did it, it took me a week, but oh my days, I did it.” Daithi said. His speech slurs when he's excited. Evan turned around from his spot on the bridge.

“You got the earpiece?”

Daithi nodded. “It's all set up. You'll be able to see through his eyes with this. You'll be able to talk to him directly. This depends on how the wires work with themselves. But yes. And it's on the interface with ours.”

Evan grinned. “You are amazing Nogla.”

“I’m aware.” He smirked confidently. “ALSO. Why are you not in your medical room?! I ran all over the ship to find you.”

“I was going stir crazy. Besides, I'm fine now.”

“Not according to Brock.”

“Well, guess it sucks that I'm the captain and you all have to deal with my stubbornness.”

“You prick.”

“Yeah, yeah. Go get some rest.”

David gave him a quick hug. “It's nice to see you in your feet again. I'll see you in a few days. I gotta catch up on my sleep.” He walked off.

Evan turned back around to look at the space passing by. “Hey, TB.”

**You should be in the medical bay.**

“Nah, I’m fine now. How’s Delirious been?”

**He hasn’t left his room all week. I’ve had security bring him food, but he prefers his own cooking apparently. There hasn’t been any trouble within his room. He talks to Hoot with those noises, and refuses to tell me what they mean. He is also oddly cautious of everything in the room.**

“Hmm. Weird.”

**Very.**

“I think I’ll go pay him a visit.”

**Evan, do you think that’s safe?**

“I’m not worried at all. He reminds me of a lost puppy.”

**W-what?**

“Never mind. I’ll head over. Thanks.”

**Be careful.**

Evan started walking along the hallways to his room, knowing that Delirious’ room would be close. He was pretty slow, as every step hurt his abdomen. But he can’t run from his duties any longer. 

After a while of walking, Evan was in front of the door. He had to chuckle lightly. This room was supposed to be for the captain’s multiple wives and lovers. Harems were adopted again as people in power grew and the idea of the “perfect” human race was implemented. Evan didn’t like that. But it was funny that he had a criminal in this room. 

He knocked lightly on the door. “It’s Evan. I’m coming in.” He opened the door and walked in slowly. 

Delirious was unconscious on the bed, drooling everywhere. He was surrounded by crumpled papers. Most of them had drawings of plants and people Evan didn’t know. Some had what seemed like random scribbles on them. Evan looked around for Delirious’ robot, but didn’t see it. It wasn’t until he looked at Delirious again that he saw Hoot. Delirious had an arm around the ball, which was glowing a warm orange.

Evan poked Delirious’ face, making him open his eyes slowly. Evana waved lightly.

Delirious’ eyes widened and he sat up, wiping his face. “Wasn’t expecting you to be here.”

“Me neither. How are you settling in?”

“Good, I guess. This is actually good.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I was going to go find you when I woke up. I need to ask you for a favor.”

Evan’s face hardened. “What is it?”

“I need to send a transmission to a very specific coordinate on Earth. According to Hoot, I need access to your, the captain’s, controls of the ship.”

“Meaning you want me to give you access to the mainframe?”

“Yes.” Delirious bit his lip.

“The mainframe that controls every part of my ship, every form of communication?”

“Yes.” Delirious looked at his hands. 

“Fuck no.” Evan looked at Delirious with cold eyes. “I’m sorry, but seriously, I wouldn’t give those controls to any of my most trusted people, much less a guy that has yet to earn my trust.”

“Then I’ll earn your trust. I need to.”

Evan scoffed. “And how are you going to do that?”

Delirious was quiet for a second. “By doing this.” And before he knew it, Evan saw a flash of blue, and lips were against his.


	5. What were you thinking?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More is revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! I present yet another chapter, and again, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy!

Evan has never punched anyone as fast before. Delirious fell back onto his bed with a yelp.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Evan yelled, wiping his lips.

Delirious rubbed his cheek where he was punched, which was already starting to turn red.

“How in the FUCK is that supposed to earn my trust? WHAT KIND OF PERSON DO YOU THINK I AM?!”

Delirious looked at his feet, still rubbing his cheek.

“SPEAK.” Evan yelled.

Delirious flinched, before mumbling something.

“I can’t hear you.” Evan folded his arms.

“That’s how I earn trust. The only way I know how.”

Evan frowned. “What?”

Delirious looked at his robot and looked back at Evan. “Things work differently on Earth.”

“What do you mean?”

Delirious glared at Evan. “Are you that dense? You think I just _had_ access to the computers and stations that let me sneak aboard your ship?”

“I thought you were an official or-”

“Seriously? If I was, what benefit would there be to go into space where I had a much higher possibility of death? Obviously I was a slave.”

“A slave?” Evan said slowly. Slavery? According to the officials, there was no class system on Earth, and definitely no slaves.

“YES. This is bigger than you think. You have no idea, they shelter all of you. You have no idea about the _pain_ , the _torture_ , the _humiliation_. People’s lives are depending on me right now, depending on you giving me your controls. I’ve sacrificed so much, I’m not letting them die. And if it means I have to sell my body to do it, then I will. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Evan sat next down on the bed, as far from Delirious as the bed allowed. He leaned forward, resting his head on his hands. “Delirious, do you have a name? An actual one?”

Delirious raised his eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You must have a name, one that isn’t crazy.”  
“Very few people know my real name. People that I would kill for. People I would die for. Why should I tell you?”

Evan turned his head to look at Delirious. “If you tell me and do me a different favor, I’ll give you access to the mainframe.”  
**SIR!**

“TB, Power down.”

**Evan-**

“TB OFF.”

Silence followed as Evan listened to the distinctive power down sound.

“You shouldn’t speak to your robot that way. She’ll hate you.”

“Tell me.”

Delirious glanced at Hoot. “Why do you want to know so bad?”

Evan looked at the ceiling. “I’ll answer your question with a question. Why do you call yourself Delirious?”

“My mom used to call my laugh delirious, and my friend just started calling me that. It stuck, and eventually, Delirious was all I used. My previous owners didn’t even know my name. No one I slept with, no one I talked to, no one knows it.”

“Exactly. You want my trust? Start with this. Do what I say, and be reliable. No nicknames. Tell me about the real Delirious.”

“You realize I’m still your prisoner? What kind of captain is this interested in a guy that stabbed him? You’re being so nice it’s scary.”  
“I don’t get it myself. But I see you as an opportunity.” Evan smiled at Delirious.

It wasn’t the same as his other smiles. It sent shivers down Delirious’ spine. This smile was cold, calculating, and evil. It was like a predator stalking its prey.

“An opportunity?” Delirious asked slowly.

“You still haven’t answered my questions.”  
“Plural?”   
“Do you want access to the mainframe or not?”

“Jonathan.”

“That’s your real name?”

Delirious nodded.

“Jon-a-than.” Evan said slowly, enunciating every syllable. “Jonathan.”

Delirious blushed, embarrassed. “Stop saying it over and over!”

Evan chuckled. “Wanna know my nickname?”

“Not particularly.”

“Vanoss!”

“Aaannndd you told me anyway, thanks.”

“Well, a deal is a deal. I will give you access to the mainframe, under my strict supervision of course. But, the favor comes into play now.”

“Yes?”

“Every day, I’ll come here, and no matter the time, you will tell me about Earth. The good and the bad.”

“Why are you doing this?” Delirious was so confused, he could barely get this sentence out of his mouth.

“Mostly because of sympathy. Partly because of pity. The Earth thing is my personal issue. I’m curious. But as to why I’m being so nice to you, that’s because of sympathy. And, you remind me of someone.”

“Really?”  
“Yeah.” Evan laid back on the bed, arms behind his head. Delirious curled up into a ball on the corner and scooted away from Evan. Hoot rolled himself to Delirious’ side. “I’m sorry for punching you. I’m not a very touchy-feely person.”

“You say that, but it was my fault. I’ve gotten worse injuries for doing less. Like I said before, Earth works differently.”

“Stop being so depressing. Here, I’ll go get some ice for where I punched you.” Evan started to get up, but he felt a hand on his arm and he stopped. He flinched lightly at the touch, but that happens whenever anyone touches him. “What?”  
“I’m fine, ignore that. I need to access the mainframe. Right now.” Evan couldn’t deny his face that just screamed desperation. “People are going to die and I need to make sure they don’t. Take me there now, I’ve wasted enough time.”

Evan nodded lightly. “Follow me. Luckily for you, it’s not far. Right next door.”

Delirious stood up. “I'm bringing Hoot.”

“That's fine, come on.”

Evan walked out of the room, Delirious following. Evan was right, it wasn't a far walk. Evan unlocked his door and walked in. “Welcome to the captain’s quarters.”

Delirious was shocked. It was less luxurious than even his room which was weird. The atmosphere was completely different though.

“Calm down.” Evan said, noticing that Jonathan tensed up. “This is where I relax and stop being as captain so do yourself a favor and relax too.”

Jonathan nodded lightly and followed Evan to a little side room, which was 360 degrees. There was a glass table in the middle like an architect's drawing table.

“TB, power on.” Evan said. He watched Delirious wander around the room, fascinated.

**EVAN.**

“TB, turn on computer.”

**Sir, this may be the stupidest thing you've ever done.**

“Just do it, or I'll override your controls. Trust me.”

Evan could feel her irritation. She may be a highly proficient AI, but she was still an AI. Slowly, the glass table started to glow and turn on.

“Is that it?” Delirious asked. “We ready to go?”

Evan laughed sarcastically. “Haha yeah, no. This controls everything, you think that's how little security I would put on it?”

“Okay, just get on with it then.” Delirious shot a glare at Evan.

Evan sighed. No one appreciates his technology. He walked to his left and found the extremely well hidden cubby and pulls out his headset before putting it on. It's a light ring and it settles on your head. And, it scans your brain. It can recognize who is wearing it.

Delirious was watching Evan like a hawk, and it made Evan antsy. He waited a few seconds and slowly the room darkened and the table projected onto the walls. Everything about everything was there. It was around them too, little holograms hovering.

Delirious was astonished. He'd heard of this kind of thing. He reached out to touch one of the plans, and was a little surprised when his hand went through, not that he'd ever admit that.

“There.” Evan said, glancing at Delirious and trying to resist his urge to laugh. “Now, where are these coordinates for Earth?”

Delirious watched as a huge Earth popped up and grew. Delirious followed the latitudes and longitudes until he found it. He put his finger on it. “Here.”

Evan nodded and immediately the hologram zoomed in and Delirious was face to face with his old home. He shivered lightly.

Delirious was going to ask Evan about security but he stopped when he saw his face. He looked like he was in deep thought, and he looked scared. “Um, Evan?”

“Here.” He looked at Delirious. It was another cold, lifeless look. It shook Delirious to his core. “You were a slave here?”

“Y-yes.”

“Is there an official there named Eli?”

Delirious froze. Hoot beeped worriedly.

“Delirious. Tell me now.”

“Yes.” Delirious stared at his feet. “He's the owner.”

“Meaning?”

“He’s our master.”

Jonathan could practically see Evan swell with rage. The room filled with a very menacing aura and Evan started to mutter under his breath.

“Why?” Delirious asked cautiously.

Evan glared at the facility hovering in front of him. “Because, he was the last person who saw my father before he disappeared.”

Delirious raised an eyebrow. “You think Master E had something to do with that?”  
“MASTER E?” Evan said, repulsed with the name.

“Habit. That's what he makes us call him, even in bed.”

There it was again. It made Evan feel incredibly sympathetic to Delirious, as he talks about selling his body like it’s nothing. _But on a more pressing matter, Eli._ Evan thought. He glanced around the facility, pacing around the hologram. His dad had gone to meet Eli about the ship, and upgrades for its performance. He had gone to Earth to meet him. Then he talked with Evan and his mother one last time before he disappeared. There, he had no idea. He was old enough to understand, but he had no idea that his dad was most likely dead. And he had no idea what was going to happen to him. He frowned. That reminds him.

“Delirious?”

“Yes?”

“How long have you been his slave?”

“Since about seven or eight years old.”

“How old are you now?”

“Almost thirty. I know, i’m an old fart.”

When Evan didn’t say anything, Delirious let it go. He needed to get this transmission to Luke and Ohm. “I need to get this transmission to them, let’s get it done. Question me all you want later.”  
Evan felt a little guilty. “Sorry. You’re right. I got distracted. Okay, here.” A little window and button appeared in front of Delirious. “Press the button to record, and I’ll handle the rest.”

Delirious glanced at Evan and nodded. Now, he needed to be careful with his wording because Evan was here, but also because he knew the guards could intercept this transmission.

He took a deep breath and pressed the button.

“Cartoonz, Ohm. It’s Delirious. Things did not go according to plan on my end. I’m okay, I got lucky with the captain. But because of that, I can’t back you up from up here. You need to call off your side of the plan. I’ll have the captain send you the blueprints of the headquarters. Find a way around. I’m sorry.” He paused. “You put all your faith in me and this plan required that I do my part. But I couldn’t, because I ran into the stupid captain.” He smiled at Evan, who stuck his tongue out. “But seriously, I’m sorry. Stay safe, drop the plan, and whatever you do-” He looked directly at Evan. “Do NOT get caught by Eli. You’ve seen what he did to me. Avoid him like a plague. I’m sorry. Good luck boys.” He pressed the button again.

Evan looked at him, curious. But he didn’t push. Delirious appreciated that.

“Hoot, let Evan download the blueprints.”

Hoot bobbed over to Evan and nuzzled against the headpiece and started to glow a light blue. Evan felt the rush as new information flooded into his brain.   
“This is-these are-Delirious?”

“Yes, these are blueprints of the space station. And the new ship they are building.”

“HOW?”

“How I got them is unimportant. Please, just send the transmission. They could be dead, or worse.”

“Okay.” Evan stared at the glass table. He pulled all the holograms back into it and walked over to it. “This is going to take a while, I have to make it so it’s an untraceable transmission. It’s hard to do.” He pressed and button and pulled out his chair from the walls. He pulled it up to the table and sat in it and stretched out his hands.

“What are you doing?”

Evan laughed lightly. “My favorite thing. I’m going to reinvent the untraceable transmission.”

He pulled up his favorite playlist and setting. Then he pulled up the software for each and every part of the comms.

Delirious watched as the room’s walls started to glow and show a beautiful forest setting with bright flowers and a stream. “Why is this here?”

“It’s my favorite setting. It relaxes me, and when you are trying to rewrite technology, you need to be relaxed. Believe me. Now, this will take a while. You can go hang out in my room, or you can stay here with me. But you are not to leave my quarters. So, what are you gonna do?”

“I’ll stay in here.” Delirious said lightly.

Evan nodded and started typing furiously on the table, watching how the other software changed.

“And Evan?”

“Yeah?”  
“Thank you. Seriously.”

“In return, you have to answer my questions.”

“Yes, about Earth, I know.”

“No. About Eli.”

Delirious felt uneasy because of this. He had a feeling that this had to do with one of those things to never bring up in front of Evan.

_Oops._


	6. Ohm, Cartoonz, and Eli

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn about 'favorites'

“Cartoonz, it’s been weeks.” Ohm said from behind a crate where they were hiding, panting lightly.

“I know.” Cartoonz glanced over the crate, looking at the guards looking for them. “But you know how resilient Del is. There has to be more to it, we need to hold out for his transmission.”

Ohm sighed. “There might not be a fucking transmission!”

“There will be.”

“And in the meantime, we are being chased every day and getting nothing when we check our spot. We are going to get caught, and we are going to be tortured. We can’t last more weeks.”

“We have to.” Cartoonz cursed when a guard was getting fairly close to them, looking around with his gun and flashlight. “We have to move.”

Ohm nodded solemnly. The crept out from the crate and jogged lightly behind the control panel for the door and bay. Ohm glanced at his watch. “Nothing. I have no alerts. Look, we need to get away from these guards. We can’t sneak away, there’s too many, so any ideas?”

Cartoonz glanced up at the control panel. Ohm followed his eyes and grinned. 

“Easy.” Cartoonz said, grinning.

“A distraction.” Ohm said. He crouched instead of sitting and set the bay doors to open. Not much of a distraction, but a good enough one for a quick escape. 

The doors opened and almost all the guards looked at it for a second before looking at the control panel only to find no one there.

Ohm and Cartoonz where out of there so fast. Ohm was a little faster, so he was leading the way as the sprinted down the winding hallways of the base. “Nice!” He said back to Cartoonz.

Cartoonz chuckled lightly. “We’re lucky we’re on a base with such stupid guards.”.

“Oh really?” A voice said.

“SHIT!” Ohm said, running face first into Eli.

“Next time, look where you are running,  _ Ryan _ .” 

Ohm shuddered.

“So, looks like you two have been caught.” Eli snapped his fingers and his robots came and bound their hands. “By none other than your Master.”

Ohm looked at the ground, fuming.

“Yup.” Cartoonz said. “Looks like it.”

Eli chuckled. “I’ve always liked your willpower, Luke. It’s kind of funny.”

“If you say so.”

Eli smirked and got a little closer to them. “Here’s the deal, you two: I should kill you right now. Or torture you both to death for stealing, mutiny, murder, assault, and breaking and entering. Plus more. The list of crimes goes on and on. But, I happen to be missing a fellow slave.”

“Spit it out already. You know Delirious was part of this. Cut out the act.” Ohm said, looking at Eli.

Eli’s eyes narrowed and his facial features hardened. “Where is he?”

Cartoonz and Ohm glanced at each other, both deciding to stay silent. Plus, at the moment, they didn’t know exactly where he was.

After a few seconds of them staring at Eli, he sighed. “Fine. I’ll have to play my trump card. Torture it is for you two, but the kicker is this: I know you’re expecting a transmission from him. So, you won’t die until it comes. After you receive it, we’ll kill you. How’s that sound?”

Neither said anything again.

“See, the issue is is that I can’t have my favorite up in space getting ideas in his head about freedom and people other than me, now can I?”

And at that moment, Ohm’s watch glowed grey and started beeping at him.   
“It’s there.” He said quietly.

Eli laughed and licked his lips. “Looks like you boys will be dying sooner rather than later.”

* * *

“Aaannndddd sent!” Evan wiped his forehead to get the sheen of sweat off. He leaned back in his chair, accomplished.

Delirious looked up from Hoot, who he had been talking to while Evan worked. “Wow. So, it’s untraceable?”

“Should be.” Evan leaned back in his chair, stretching. He paused. “Unless…”

“Unless?”

Evan spun around in his chair and got up and sat on the floor in front of Delirious. “So. Jonathan, tell me about Eli.”

“You can’t say unless and not continue the thought.”

“It won’t happen. It was a thought but the chances of it happening are slim to none. But, tell me about him. Does he manage a lot of ships? Is he still designing upgrades? What is his personality like?”

“Slow down, Jesus Christ. Look, I am not going to help you with your revenge quest. I can give you information but when you hunt him down, for whatever reason, I will NOT help you.”

Evan was about to protest that he didn’t want to kill Eli but Delirious raised a hand, stopping him. “I’ve seen your eyes before. The resentment and revenge filled eyes. I saw it every day there, and those slaves did not live very long. The first thing you need to know about Eli is that he is merciless. He loves torturing and killing. He says it gives him such an adrenaline rush to hold a life in his hands; to hold all that a person is, and crush it. He plays games, and he sees himself as godlike.” Delirious sighed and rubbed his head. Evan was trying to pay a lot of attention to Delirious’ body language and facial expressions to see what he really meant, but it was hard. He didn’t show much about what he was really thinking. It seemed only when he was desperate was when Evan could pick up on his emotions. “That probably has to do with the fact that he is head designer of every ship built, and that he beats all of his slaves into submission.” Delirious paused before smiling to himself. “Well, not all of his slaves.”

“You and your friends?”

“Yeah.” Delirious looked at Hoot. “They’re all really smart and brave. I couldn’t ask for better friends.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, but they might be dead now so I’m a just a  _ little  _ stressed.”

“Understandable. So, you keep talking about a plan. That I messed up.” Evan teased. “Because you, you know, tried to kill me?”

“JEEZ, SORRY.” Delirious snapped, making Evan chuckle lightly.

“Anyways, do you mind asking what it was? And why you stole the blueprints for the new headquarters of SepFor?”   
Delirious sighed. “I have been a slave for about twenty years. I bounced from place to place as my mom did, until she died of an illness. Eli took me in when I was about eleven or twelve. He’s kind to the young ones. Always kind to the young ones. Ohm and Cartoonz joined a few years after I was taken by him. We got along right away. We were young then, so we had no issues. Eli was kind and we lived every day like a normal youngster would. Then we got older. And the actual Eli emerged. He treated us like dirt, like pigs. Every “generation” of slaves, he picks a favorite.”

“A favorite?”

“Use your brain Evan.” Delirious stared at Evan. 

“A favorite for-” Evan paused, disgusted. 

“Yes. A toy for him to use. A favorite body to use.”

Evan shivered. “That’s horrible.”   
“Yeah, it is, but that’s life on Earth. It isn’t love and rainbows. So, he always has a favorite, and all the other slaves despise them. They get special treatment, whatever they want. They are to be treated like a king or queen by the other slaves. You rarely see the favorite, he keeps them hidden. So, this went on. We were content. We worked hard, and we worked a lot. Eli let me be with Ohm and Cartoonz all day every day, which I am still grateful for. Years passed and none of us even thought about leaving. Eli wasn’t pure evil. He gave us food, beds, showers, comfort. He gave us a home, even if we worked for nothing and were beaten every day. But then,” He sighed and glared at the ground. “, I became the next favorite.”

“Doesn’t seem like such a horrible thing. Well, besides the, you know.”

Delirious looked at Evan again with uncaring eyes. “Yeah. Believe me, I know. It shouldn’t seem bad. Do you remember the greenhouses I was talking about?”

“Yeah.” 

“Well, that’s because I was the favorite and got everything I wanted.”

“That doesn’t sound horrible.”   
“Evan, when your workers go to the lunch area to eat, are they getting that food for free?”

“Yeah, they don’t have to pay for it or anything-”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Delirious interrupted. “Everything comes at a price. They work for the food, they grow it and they prepare it. They work so that the ship runs to sustain the crops. They work for it, they pay for it. Be a bit more open-minded.”

Evan stayed silent, waiting for Delirious to get to the point. Delirious’ voice shook as he said the next thing. “Everything I wanted came at a price Evan. Every. Single. Thing. And these weren’t normal things. Torture. Bloody, torture. These tattoos.” He gestured to his arms, shaking. “They cover up burns and scars. He carved these into me, before thinking that that was disgusting and painting over them with ink. Cuts, burns, words, etched into my skin; into my soul. After another few years, I couldn’t take it anymore, I needed to get away. I-” His voice broke as tears spilled silently onto his cheeks. “They carved ‘trash’ into my skin over and over. It feels like they carved into my bones. Into my very being. They convinced me that I was nothing but a bitch; nothing but trash. So I made this plan.” He put his head into his hands and sobbed. “And they might be dead, because of me, because I wasn’t strong enough, because I was weak and stupid and just-” He sobbed again, unable to go on. He kept apologizing. To his friends, to his mom, to other people Evan didn’t know. He even apologized to  _ him _ . That’s what broke Evan’s heart. Watching a man so traumatized and caring fall apart. And he doesn’t know how to comfort him at all. He reached out tentatively and put his hand on Delirious’ shoulder. Delirious looked up at him, frozen for a second, before breaking into another fit of sobs and I’m sorry’s. Evan slowly pulled him into a hug, where Delirious sobbed into Evan’s shoulder, scared and traumatized.

* * *

Ohm yelled as Eli kicked him the stomach. “Open it.” Ohm doubled over, clutching his stomach. He glanced at Cartoonz, who was frantically looking around for an opportunity.

Ohm waited, not doing anything, hoping Cartoonz would figure something out. Cartoonz looked at him, and shook his head.

Hope drained out of Ohm like a fountain. He curled up onto himself and cursed. It wasn't the shake of the head alone, it was Cartoonz’s panic and fear. Panic and fear for Delirious. The same panic and fear he felt. Ohm flinched, anticipating another kick.

Cartoonz eyes widened as he saw what Eli and his guard had out. “OHM COVER YO-”

It was too late as the men pushed the brands onto Ohm’s back. Screams of pain echoed throughout the room, screams so long and loud that Ohm wasn't breathing. They held it there as Ohm screamed and cried, writhing under the burning metal. They were made to look like long scars, placed right on the shoulder blades, where wings would be if a human had some. It's sick symbolism. Every brand is some sort of sick symbolism. A collar, wings that are cut off, etc. Things to show you are a slave. Cartoonz flinched  at hearing another wave of Ohm’s screams. 

Ohm looked at him from the side on the floor. His breathing was labored, tears were all over his cheeks, and he was bright red. His eyes seemed to be glazed over, he was obviously extremely close to passing out. But he smiled at Cartoonz. He smiled clearly. Cartoonz immediately knew what that meant.  _ We bought Delirious enough time. The transmission, it means he did it. _

Cartoonz froze. “STOP!” He yelled. Eli and the guard lifted up their brands. Cartoonz could clearly see where Ohm’s shirt melted into the third-degree burns. He felt panic set into his heart. He can't have Ohm die.

“Why? You want to be next?” The guard snarled.

“He needs to be conscious to receive the transmission. He's the only one that can do it.”

“What?” Eli said, crouching down to where Cartoonz was on the floor. “Why the fuck would you set it up that way?”

“To guarantee survival. We figured there'd be a snitch among the slaves. We knew you'd try to kill us as soon as the transmission came in. This was just in case you decided you thought we could both do it.”

“That makes no sense, you realize I could just kill you now then.”

_ Shit, I can't let him know I'm bluffing.  _

“But, if Delirious used a certain form of communication, I’m the only one that can understand it.”   
Eli clicked his tongue. “Is that how you planned all this? With this “form of communication”?”

Cartoonz glanced at Ohm on the floor, who was panting and obviously struggling to remain conscious. He nodded his head frantically.

“Whatever.” Eli stood up. “I don’t like my slaves dead anyways, especially the ones that are close to the favorite.” He looked at the guard and flicked his hand. The guard yanked Ohm up from off the floor, leaving him groaning and writhing in pain again. 

Cartoonz grimaced. He was obviously out of it. He just looked so broken; like he was in so much pain. 

Eli walked up to the computer in the room, twirling his now cool brand behind his shoulders. “Alright boys, let’s unleash this son of a bitch.”

Ohm raised his head from its hanging position, shaking the whole way there. Cartoonz stood up and quietly walked over to the computer and waited as the guard dragged Ohm over. 

“Ohm?” Cartoonz asked quietly.

“I’m okay, I can do this.” Ohm said quietly. Too quietly. The guard dropped him lightly to try and get him to stand. Ohm managed, but as soon as he moved his arms in anyway, he would cry out in little yelps of pain. But he pushed through, his fingers dancing across the computer screen. Cartoonz could see the silent tears of pain rolling down his cheeks. After a few minutes, Ohm exhaled lightly and pushed his watch to the screen. “There.” He turned to Cartoonz and took a labored breath. “DO NOT let me pass out before I see the fucking transmission.” Cartoonz nodded and Ohm smashed a small button he had on the side of the computer.

Ohm collapsed to the ground, yelping in pain as his shoulderblades screamed at him, and Cartoonz knelt with him. The guard looked disinterested and Eli licked his lips as the recording of Delirious popped up.

“ Cartoonz, Ohm. It’s Delirious. Things did not go according to plan on my end.” Cartoonz’s heart sank. 

Ohm’s eyes widened and cursed under his breath, nonstop. Cartoonz rubbed soothing circles into Ohm’s head. “I’m okay, I got lucky with the captain.” Cartoonz watched as Delirious smiled a bit to a person off-camera. Must be the so-called captain. He heard Eli curse under his breath. “But because of that, I can’t back you up from up here. You need to call off your side of the plan. I’ll have the captain send you t-”

“Pause it.” Eli said, suddenly walking forward.

“NOW. STOP THE TRANSMISSION.” He yelled when no one responded. Cartoonz got up and quickly paused it right as Delirious said blueprints.  _ Blueprints? He got the blueprints!  _ Cartoonz eyed Eli, who was now pacing around the frozen Delirious in a little circular room.  _ Maybe he didn’t catch that, maybe he doesn’t know. I need to make sure I get the rest of this transmission. Sorry, Ohm.  _ He thought before lightly tapping a series of dots and long pauses onto his arm. Ohm winced every time, but nodded and slowly undid his watch and tossed it up to Cartoonz, who caught it swiftly. He carefully slid it behind his back and set it to recover the transmission. He sighed in relief when he felt the surge of warmth from the watch, meaning it was on it. He carefully tossed it back to Ohm right as Eli turned around and smirked.

“You know where he is?”

“No.”

“Which ship, which jurisdiction? The transmission traceable at all?”

Ohm shook his head from the floor. “Ohm says there is no way that that transmission is traceable.”

Eli smiled even wider. “Good. Good! This is perfect.”

Cartoonz looked at him. “What?”

Eli started laughing. “Well, the thing is-” Another fit of laughter. “Little Delirious thinks he’s so smart sending an untraceable transmission, but I can find out exactly where he is.” More laughter. “I’m excited to pull the rug out from underneath him.”

“H-how?” Ohm said.

“Easy. They left the door open.” He gestured to the open door which was showing a view of black furniture and colors, illuminated by yellow light. “I designed that ship, I only know one family that could own a ship with that color scheme: The Fongs.” He smiled even wider. And pointed to the general area where Delirious was looking in the transmission. “My favorite is with the young Captain Evan Fong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Sorry about the infrequent updates(is infrequent a word? i dunno), so many freaking vacations. I loved writing this chapter, although poor sweet Ohm , I apologize for what I made your fictional persona go through.  
> Feel free to leave a comment or anything, I read it all, and I love feedback.  
> And as always, I hope ye enjoy!


	7. Is That Him?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eli is an actual fuckstick, Evan is confused, Delirious yells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christ almighty, it has been a fucking crazy month. Been writing in my freetime, all that fun stuff. I enjoyed writing this chapter, although I think this one could've been structured better.  
> All feedback is appreciated and amazing! I love all kudos and comments, they make my day.  
> Thanks for taking the time to read this! And as always, I hope ye enjoy!

“Have you calmed down?” Evan asked. Delirious, who was still leaning against Evan, mumbled a quiet yes.

“I'm sorry.” Evan said. “I'm sorry that this has been your life and I’m sorry that you think that it's all your fault that these things happened. Because it's not. You shouldn't have to apologize, it's all okay. You're safe up here and I’m sure that your friends are safe as well. Now, we can't run forever, and I can't give you special treatment forever either. Even now,” he paused ”,every bone in my body is telling me to kill you, or just throw you into space for trying to kill me. But I won't.”

“And why is that?” Delirious asked into Evan’s shirt.

“Because I pity you.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel so much better.” Delirious said as Evan rubbed circles into his back.

“It's not a bad thing. Don't think that it is. If anything, it's a good thing. Because I pity you, I respect you. I respect your bravery and willpower. I don't want to kill you, I don't think you deserve it. There is difference between killing intent and desperation for escape and/or survival.”

Evan paused, waiting so see if Delirious would say anything. He just breathed into Evan’s chest.

“Well I mean, at first I thought you just wanted to kill me, you know, because you acted all cool when you stabbed me.” He teased.

He felt a light chuckle come from Delirious. “At first, I only kept you around so I could use you to my advantage. So I could control you, but also so you could tell me about Earth, and the things I remember about it. But then you started to tell me all about what you've been through. And I started thinking that I could not control you in any way after what you've been through. So, even though every instinct of self-preservation that I have is telling me to get rid of you, I'm not going to do it. We  _ will  _ find your friends, and we’ll keep you away from Eli. Okay?”  _ Gain their trust properly, Evan. Make them trust you wholeheartedly, and then they are yours forever. They’ll follow you forever. You need to learn to earn trust, even if it means lying.  _ The familiar voice rang through Evan’s head.

“Mm.” Delirious said. 

“Good.” Evan pushed lightly against Delirious’ shoulders, pushing him off his chest. His face was a mess, but he was calm. He just looked tired. Evan stood up and held out a hand to help Delirious up. Delirious took it, and Evan led him into his kitchen area, and sat him on one of his barstools. He felt bad about lying about wanting to control Delirious, but he needed his trust to be able to make sure his crew, him, and hopefully Delirious get out of this alive. He was watching out for everyone and everything. Delirious was only watching out for himself and his friends. That's why he needed to be controlled. So he doesn't kill the innocent people that aren't his friends. They're in a dangerous, tense situation, and he needed to be cautious. He remembered the lesson about gaining trust extremely well. He remembered the consequences of it too. It wasn't a torturous lesson like the others. He needed to befriend a young girl, who had killed her family and those closest to her. She told him why she did it. She was raped and abused and she needed to escape. They hated her, she saw visions. Evan was her friend for a long time, but he kept in mind it was a lesson. Not friendly times. But he became too emotionally involved and ended up telling her that she was a lesson, that he was only her friend because of his teachers. 

His teacher told him she killed herself the same evening he told her.  

It was emotionally devastating, he wandered in a daze for weeks. He also got many, many injuries from his teacher’s anger. They were using him to try and get her to confess properly, as a witness had seen her brutally killing them and laughing. Evan learned two hard lessons then. One: trust goes both ways. And two: Having someone trust you completely and utterly is extremely useful, but it's similar to love, and that if they know you’re betraying their complete trust, the consequences are extreme. So, he needed to be careful with Delirious. But he needed to use him, and get the proper information from him. 

“Here.” He sat a glass of water down in front of Delirious. “I'll make some food really quick too. Do you want a change of clothes? You've been in those for weeks.” And he wasn't going to say it, but Delirious didn't exactly smell good at the moment. 

Delirious nodded quietly. “Okay. Here, while I cook up this pasta, go choose some clothes. The closet is to the left of my bad as you walk in. If TB bothers you, try not to think twice about it, she likes to give people crap. I'll have this ready in no time at all.” Evan watched as Delirious walked out and sighed.

_ Sometimes earning trust is more than lies and words. Actions. Remember that Evan, and you can have anyone tied around your little finger.  _

Evan busied himself making pasta and a simple peanut sauce to go with it. And the entire time, he argued with his conscience.  _ I’m not doing something bad. I'm not the villain here. I'm just trying to keep everyone alive. I'll be more careful than I was when I was learning. I'll keep everyone safe. That makes a bad thing excusable. Yes. _

The pasta was almost done boiling when Delirious walked back in in black pants and a dark red shirt. Simple, and they fit him pretty well. 

“It’ll be ready in a second.” Evan said. 

“Thanks.” Delirious said.

“Feeling better after crying?” 

“Yeah. I'm still nervous though. How could I not be?” 

“You're right. We all would be nervous. But. We sent the transmission. They got it, things will work out, so calm down. Take a breather for a day or two. I can show you the best places to go on the ship, fun places. Would you be okay with that?”

“Sure. I don't care. I have time to waste anyways.”

“That's the spirit.” Evan said, turning around to strain the pasta. He put it into the peanut sauce and tossed it lightly. He put some into a bowl and handed it to Delirious. He got himself some and sat next to him.

He watched Delirious take a bite and smile. “It's good, isn't it? I'm a pretty good cook.”

Delirious nodded. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Besides I get to eat it too.”

“No.” Delirious stared at Evan. “Thank you for everything. For not killing me, for feeding me, for helping me, and for taking care of me.”

Evan looked at him, who was staring at his food, blushing.

“You're welcome. Just don't make me regret it.” He took a spoonful of food and munched on it as a distraction. He needed to come up with a plan.

* * *

Cartoonz slowly unwrapped the bandages that covered Ohm’s torso and shoulders. Ohm winced as they stuck to his wound. “Ouucchhh, that stings…”

Cartoonz sighed in relief. “I'm sorry this happened. But I'm glad you're alive.” He looked at the fresh burns on Ohm’s back. It was rough to look at, but they were healing, thanks to the medicine. 

Ohm looked at the ceiling of their room. “I am too. But I don't like this.”

“The burns?”

Ohm turned and snorted at Cartoonz. “God no. I knew that it was just a matter of time until I got them. It still hurt like a fuckstick, though. No, I'm worried about what Master E wants us to do.”

Cartoonz leaned to his right and grabbed more bandages. He started wrapping Ohm’s shoulders and torso again. “I don't like it either, but we have to do it. He’ll kill us if we don't.”

Ohm turned around.

“Hey!” Cartoonz protested, bandages still in hand.

“But he's using us as gambling chips! That means we’re valuable! He won't kill us…”

Cartoonz sighed and looked at his lap. “Ohm, turn back around.” Ohm obeyed, and stared at the wall, bringing his knees up to his chest. “You need to stop thinking like a normal person Ohm. Think like Eli.”

“Cartoonz!” Ohm looked around, worriedly.

“He's not here, I don't have to call him Master E. Think like him though. He could just record us being tortured or simply tell Delirious. He cares too much about us, he’ll come here in a heartbeat. He doesn't need us alive, it's just that keeping us alive makes his job easier.  _ That’s  _ what we need to take advantage of.”

“How?”

“I don't know yet.” Cartoonz cut the bandage and tucked it in under the other wraps while he grabbed the clip. He pulled out the stray end and clipped it to the rest of the bandage. “All done.”

“You don't know? So what are we supposed to do?”

“Survive. And listen to the rest of the transmission.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. He got the fucking blueprints, we need to see what he said. Now.”

Ohm sighed and turned around, wincing slightly. “Okay.” He pulled off his watch and tapped it three times and watched as Delirious popped up once again.

They watched in slight horror as Delirious told them that the plan failed, that he couldn't do anything. That they needed to not get caught by Eli.

“Shiiitttt, it's way too late for that!” Cartoonz said.

“So, we have the blueprints and we can't use them.” Ohm said, tapping against the table anxiously.

“ _ Damn it _ !” Cartoonz said. They could not do anything. Anything but wait. Eli’s plan was sick and twisted. But their plan was tossed out the window and this was a fight for survival.

Ohm and Cartoonz looked at each other before sighing and attempting to make some sort of plan.

* * *

 

Evan didn't really come up with a plan. He led Delirious all over the ship for the next week. He knew he needed to start to use Delirious, but now that the transmission was sent, Delirious was much more calm. Much more fun to be around. He laughed genuinely, he smiled more, and every conversation seemed more intimate. Evan liked it. They talked about the greenhouses and plants from up on the bridge where Evan sat with Delirious almost every night. He knows that he should be doing his duties, but, he just couldn't resist Delirious’ face when he was talking about the greenhouses or his friends. It was so full of life, and so amazing. He didn't want to lie to him, didn't want to use him. Delirious trusted him.  _ These are the thoughts that got that girl killed. _

Evan sighed. 

“Why are you sighing?” Delirious’ blue eyes felt like they were staring into Evan’s soul.

They were on the bridge, sitting in between the posts of the railing, looking out of the windows and down on the cafeteria. Everyone else was asleep, and they were just watching the stars. 

Evan watched the stars pass by. “Just thinking about some things that I don't want to think about.”

“Like?”

Evan looked at Delirious. “My training.”

Delirious raised an eyebrow. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“I haven't cared before, I don't know why I'd start now.”

“You haven't heard the question yet.”

“Fine. Try me.”

“Everyone on this ship besides you, has told me that I need to be careful what I say around you. Like I’ll say something wrong, and you’ll freaking kill me. When I brought up Eli, you reacted in a pretty scary way. And just now, your face went all dark.”

Evan knew where this was going. 

“Can you tell me why everyone tells me to be careful? Or what it’s about?”

Evan sighed again and put his face in his hands. “Is it more suspicious if I answer or i I say I would like to avoid the question?”

“Avoiding it.” Delirious stared at Evan, completely serious.

Evan looked away from Delirious for a second, weighing his options.  _ Trust is a two way street. Some things can’t be avoided. _

“Well? Are you gonna tell me?”

Evan glanced at him before sighing and spotting back out of the gap of the railings. 

“What are you  _ doing _ ?”

Evan said nothing and just started to pull off his shirt. 

“Woah, woah, woah. I didn't think this question would make you horny! Is that why everyone told me not to bring it u-”

“Shut up and wait a second, fucking hell.”

Delirious laughed lightly and leaned back, waiting. Evan pulled the shirt up over his head, and dropped it to the side.

Delirious’ jaw dropped. All over Evan’s torso were scars. Deep scars; scars that seemed to jut out from his skin. Everywhere.

“Each one was a lesson. From Training.”

“Every single one was a separate lesson?”

“Yes.” Evan looked at the scars that covered his chest.

Delirious looked at him and Evan watched his expression. It was unchanging.

“And I can't bring this up because…?”

“Normally I turn very angry. I broke bones once. Almost killed a guy.” Evan looked at his scars again. _Did kill a different guy._ _My teacher._

“Oh for the love of god,  _ get over yourself _ .”

Evan’s head shot up. Delirious looked absolutely livid. “Are you  _ serious _ ?”

“W-what?” Evan said. 

“THIS?! THIS IS ALL?! Training? To be a captain. Yeah, sucks. BUT THIS IS NOTHING.” Delirious yelled.

Evan leaned back, honestly scared. 

“TRY LIVING ON EARTH AS A SEX SLAVE. TRY HAVING PEOPLE TEAR OUT YOUR EYES. TRY SEEING YOUR MOTHER RAPED AND DIE. THEN TELL ME ABOUT PAIN AND TURNING VIOLENT. GET OVER YOURSELF. IF I’M STILL KICKING, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT BE SO FUCKING TOUCHY AND GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF.”

Evan felt like he'd been slapped in the face. Delirious glared at him and turned back around to look out the window. “Insensitive dick. Try living on Earth nowadays.” The anger seemed to melt away and his face turned sad. “You aren't the only one living with pain, okay? Everyone handles pain differently, but if  _ I’m  _ stronger than you, then you need to grow a pair.”

Evan just stared at him, speechless. 

“Sorry. I just think it's stupid that that's all.”

“I was young.”

“Excuse.”

“My father just went missing.”

“Another excuse.”

“I'm weak.”

Delirious turned to face Evan again. “That's what you need to acknowledge to get better.” Evan watched as he smiled softly. “I’m not saying your pain isn't real. I’m just saying grow a pair and stop thinking about yourself. Pain is universal, and you need to be able to deal with it. I'm sorry I yelled at you.”

“I-I-wha-uh…” Evan gulped. “That's okay.”

Delirious chuckled lightly. “I miss the clouds.” 

“That was random.”

“Sometimes random can be a game-changer.” Delirious winked and started rambling about rainy days on Earth. Evan listened but felt like Delirious was trying to give him advice. 

He didn't get it, but it was nice that Delirious was trying.

“Thank you Jonathan.”

Delirious turned bright red at the sound of his real name. He turned away from Evan. 

“You're welcome.”

 


	8. Good News and Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions run high and cause issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once again! I have emerged from the blank hole of writer's block! Welcome back. Is that a thing you should say when you update chapters? Whatever, Imma roll with it. Anyways, I apologize for the long wait. I've been CRAZY busy and also had issues with writer's block, as I said before. But I like this chapter, even though I rewrote it seven times. My notebook is just the same scene written and rewritten until I was satisfied. Anyways, thank you all for the kudos and the comments, they make me very happy. And as always, I hope ye enjoy!

Evan and Delirious were still on the bridge talking about Earth when David basically bowled Evan over. 

“Ow!” Evan shouted as his head hit the floor and David regained his balance on the other side of him.

Delirious burst out laughing. “Well THAT was graceful!”

David ignored Delirious and stared at Evan. He seemed both giddy and panicked. Evan sat up and looked at him, serious.

Delirious picked up on the mood and sobered up.

“This better be important, it's past curfew.”

“Evan, you know that shit doesn't apply to me.” His accent was thicker than usual. He was obviously stressed.

“Spit it out.”

David sighed. He tossed a little bag to Evan with two earrings in it. “I couldn't do it with one.”

Evan’s eyes widened. “Are these-”

“Yes. They'll work, but they're very high risk. If anyone rips them out, like he did to you,” he gestured to Delirious. “, the person wouldn't survive. They're linked together throughout the brain. And I mean IN the brain. It's different than ours. But, it'll work.” He smiled proudly.

Evan held the bag, amazed. Daithi should be proud. He was holding some incredible technology. He hesitated though. They would practically brainwash Delirious to be his, well, slave. Evan felt sick to his stomach when he thought that. 

“Thank you.” He clutched the bag tight. He was uneasy, though. “Get some sleep, you look like death.”

Daithi smiled weakly, but it melted away too fast.

“Oh no, what else? What's wrong?”

“We’re receiving a message, live from Earth.”

Delirious’ heart sunk to his gut. Evan glanced at him, and he knew they had the same thought.  _ Eli. _

Evan got up, and yanked Delirious up. “Get some sleep Nogla. I'll handle this.”

Nogla nodded and walked off. Evan turned around and started booking it towards his room. “Follow!” He yelled back at Delirious.

“Already am!”

Once in front of the captain’s quarters, Evan ran inside.

“TB! Cut off all the other monitors, keep this message in here and only in here. Disable cameras in here. Microphones too.”

**Yes, sir.**

“You have cameras in here?”

“You. Stay here. He's after you, and we both know it.” Evan was stern and straight to the point.

“Sure captain.” Delirious was trying to play it cool, but he was panicking.

“Oh yeah.” Evan tossed the bag to him. “Here. Wear those.”

_ Earrings.  _ Delirious glanced at Evan questioningly. He knew what an earring did; what they were for on these ships. He's never seen two on anyone before. 

Before he could ask any questions, Evan sealed himself off in the control room.

Delirious sat in the kitchen and studied the earrings. He tentatively pulled one out of the bag. He rolled it lightly in between his fingers. It was a simple stud earring, but he knew what it would do when he put them in. He was nervous holding it. He could kill for these. Correction, he  _ has  _ killed for these. He has a drawer full of these, but he could never reverse engineer them. As soon as they are ripped out, or even surgically removed, it’s like a part of it self destructs. Delirious has studied these and he has never figured it out. But it was here, in front of him and in his hands. He was terrified to say the least. These were permanent. The removal of one risks brain injury. He thinks about how he ripped out Evan’s earring. He was lucky it didn’t cause damage to the brain, like causing bleeding. Evan did tell him he was deaf in that ear, but he has a special hearing aid for it. Delirious looked at the little blue stud. Nice color choice, but Del was still uneasy. His instincts, which he trusted more than himself, were screaming at him to not trust them. They could kill him or-

_ Make you go blind again? Is that worse than death?  _ Eli’s voice rang throughout Delirious’ head.

“Get out of my head.”

_ Why do you want me out of your head?  _ Delirious jumped at that voice. Evan.  _ That hurts, Del. Do you not trust me? _

“I do, but-”

_ Ohh, I see. You’re scared. Scared little Jon-a-than.  _

“You aren't him. Eli or Evan. Get out of my head.”

It was still Evan’s voice going through his head.  _ Delirious, you need to trust me. I’ll bring you back to Earth, back to your gardens, and back to your friends. I’ll take care of you. Just give yourself to-Just Trust me. _

Delirious shivered. He’d gotten used to the voices in his head, but hearing Evan’s was disorienting. Evan was so nice, he really kept Jon grounded. Hearing him in his head scared him. 

_ C’mon Jonathan. I know what you’re starting to think about me. How nice I am, how much I want to know about you. I know how attractive you secretly find me… _

“Be quiet…” Delirious warned.

_ The first person since Luke and Ryan to actually treat you well; treat you like a human. How could you resist? Raised in a slave-based society, raped, eyes torn out, and yet you feign bravery. You feign being okay. So having someone to trust, someone to tell everything to, someone to try loving, is amazing for you. You love our long talks on the bridge, you love when we sit and watch the stars, you loved how I hugged you while you cried, you lo- _

“SHUT UP!” Delirious yelled, shooting up from his seat. He heard a loud clattering sound. He looked around, wondering if he had knocked something over, but then he heard a loud yell from Evan.    
“SHIT!”

Jonathan looked towards the door that Evan was behind and waited for it to inevitably open. He was right, because a few moments later, it opened, revealing a fuming Evan.

“So, how’d it go?”

Evan said nothing and stomped over to him.

“Evan, hey!” 

Evan grabbed a hold of his arm and started yanking him to the room. 

“W-Wait! Evan, what-”

“I’m sorry, Jonathan, I’m sorry.”

“What are you-” Jonathan stopped cold. Evan had dragged him into the room, and Eli’s face was still there, projected in the middle of the room. “E-Evan?”

“I’m sorry. He threatened me, a-and he said he’d tell me, I-”

Delirious’ heart sunk. “You sold me out?”   
“He already knew.”

“WHAT?! DID YOU TELL HIM WITH THE TRANSMISSION? WAS EVERYTHING A LIE?”

“What?! No!”

“Then how did he know?!”

“I don’t know!” Evan’s voice broke. “Look, I-”

“It was the transmission.” Eli interrupted Evan. 

Evan’s only thought was  _ Oh shit  _ before he got slapped in the face. 

Delirious looked absolutely livid. “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance. I never should’ve trusted you.”

“W-wait, Delirious. He’s lying, I swear he’s lying. You have to believe me.” Evan backed up from Delirious slowly.

“I  _ have  _ to believe you? Are you insane?” Delirious smiled. “I told you everything. Everything!” He slowly started laughing. “And you think that I’ll trust you after this? What kind of idiot do you take me for?” More laughter. “Well, I did trust you with everything, so I’m obviously stupid. I am an idiot.”

“Delirious. You’re scaring me.” The laughter didn’t help with anything.

“Oh, jeez, sorry. I should be more considerate of your feelings! Maybe next time, I’ll sell you out to someone you KILLED to escape from!”

“I haven’t forgiven you for that, by the way. Those guards were useful.” Eli said in the background.

“Evan, don’t speak unless you need to. We’ll continue this later. Meaning, I’ll save my energy so I can kill you later.”

Evan could’ve sworn his eyes started glowing as he said that. Something told him he was completely serious.

_ Jonathan, you aren't angry with me, right? C’mon, you know you can’t kill me. You know I’m sincere.  _ It was like Evan was circling around Jonathan's head, whispering into his ears.  _ I wouldn’t hurt you, you know that.  _

Delirious sighed and turned to Eli. “What do you want?”

“Oh, you silly pet.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Eli frowned slightly. “Well, the thing is, is that I miss you.”

“Cut the crap.” Delirious was still riding his anger. He wasn’t really thinking about what he was saying.

Eli really scowled this time. “Cut the attitude. I am not afraid to ruin your life.” He grinned. “Although, I’ll have to find some new leverage.”

Delirious’ heart stopped. The transmission. He intercepted it. Meaning he probably had Ohm and Cartoonz. But he had no more leverage.  _ It’s exactly what you think.  _ Eli’s voice rang in his head.

Delirious took a step back from Eli’s hologram. “Yo-you. What did you do?”

“I can’t have people who helped my pet escape go unpunished.”

Delirious dropped onto his knees. In a completely submissive stance. “A-are they-Did you- you  _ killed  _ them?”

Evan’s heart broke a little bit, as Delirious’ voice broke when he said “killed”. He watched as tears slowly welled in Delirious’ eyes.

“We all know who really killed them. Even Evan here knows.”

Delirious turned to look at Evan. “It was me. I killed them.” Evan couldn't describe Delirious’ expression. It wasn't an expression of pure anguish or heartbreak. Tears fell from his eyes, but he just looked-blank. Broken and blank. It was so much worse. It terrified Evan. If he had sobbed,  curled up, yelled, shown anything except a blank face and stare with tears running down his cheeks, it would've been  _ normal _ .

Evan inched his way over to Delirious. “Delirious?”

“I killed them. I killed them. I-I-it was my fault. They were my brothers, they were family deeper than blood and I killed them. I should've just dealt with Eli-I-it wasn't that bad. I killed them. They wanted kids, they wanted a family after they got out, I-i took that away from them. I killed them.”

Evan tentatively reached a hand out to touch Delirious’ shoulder. “Hey, it's okay. Del, calm down. It's okay.” Delirious jumped when Evan touched him. He looked at him. Evan didn't know the technology behind his eyes but they showed every single emotion Jonathan was feeling at the moment. As much as normal eyes. 

Evan knew Eli was right there but he yanked Delirious into a hug. “Jonathan, it's okay.” He whispered quiet enough that only Del could hear.

And that was the breaking point. 

Delirious clutched at Evan’s back and started sobbing. Heartbroken, anguished sobbing. Evan squeezed him tight, trying to comfort him the best way he could.

Eli cleared his throat, getting Evan’s attention. Delirious was clearly in his own world, sobbing his sanity away.

“What?” Evan spat at him. 

“Whoa, no need for that tone! I was just gonna say that I just wanted to see how my favorite was doing, but I was not expecting this…”

Evan glared at him. “Meaning?”

“You're infatuated with him! I mean, I know he's irresistible in a mysterious kind of way but come on! He snuck onto your ship, and probably caused some mayhem. He tends to do that. But I'm sure he told you about me and you already know I had something to do with your father's disappearance, yet you still developed a little crush?”

“Shut up!” Evan said. Delirious was still sobbing quietly onto Evan’s shoulder. 

“Seriously? Captain Fong, you know you shouldn't speak to people like that.”

Evan opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

“SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!” Delirious yelled at the top of his lungs. Evan tried to push him off his shoulder to see his face but Delirious didn't budge. Evan just held him tighter again, hoping he was helping in some way.

“Well. I see how he's doing. That's a comfort in some way.” Eli said. “Here, let's do this. I don't need him back right away. Besides I have some cleanup to do here before he returns. So, I'll contact you when to bring him back. Or you don't get your info, and I kill you and everyone on your ship, okay? Okay. I'll contact you again.” And with that, his face went away.

“Jonathan.”

No response.

“JONATHAN.”

It was like an electric current shot throughout Delirious’ body. He pushed Evan off of him so hard he fell back. 

“Jonathan-”

“Do-don't call me that. Ever.” Delirious’ voice was thick from crying. 

“Del-” 

Delirious shook his head, stood up, and sprinted out of the room.

“SHIT!” Evan scrambled off the floor and went to chase after him. He ran through his room, almost tripping over one of the stools in his kitchen. “Wait!”

By the time he reached the door to Jonathan’s quarters, it was locked shut.

“TB! OVERRIDE THE DOOR!”

**Sorry Evan, but no.**

“What do you mean no?!”

**He needs his time right now Evan. For your sake and his, leave him be.**

“SINCE WHEN DID YOUR OPINION MATTER?! OPEN THE DOOR!” Evan pounded on the door repeatedly. “DELIRIOUS I’M SORRY! LET ME IN! Please…”

No response from Delirious or TB.

“I'm sorry…” Evan leaned on the door and quietly cried.

* * *

Evan left something out in front of Delirious’ door everyday. A note, food, a plant, a handmade teddy bear, one of his favorite stuffed owl toys, and they'd be gone by the time Evan would go to bed. But delirious didn't emerge for weeks. Evan would try to talk to TB, but she'd always respond the same way.

**Since when did my opinions matter?**

Evan didn't sleep well since that day. Eli lied to him. He never got the promised information, and now he's on edge and has to deal with the constant threat of death. And this fucker designed his ship. He knows how to destroy it easily. And now he can't even talk to Delirious about himself or his worries. He's talked to Craig and Tyler about it, both called him an insensitive prick and went to go work on the engines. He tried talking to David, who listened, but was more upset by the fact that Delirious had left the earrings behind.

“I worked unbelievably hard on those!” He had argued.

Evan wandered in a daze. He still completes his duties, but guilt began eating him alive. He did a horrible thing to Delirious, who was now dealing with the death of his two closest people.

Days turned into weeks, which quickly turned into a month.

Evan was becoming unhinged at this point. Everyone was worried. 

Everyone was convinced he lost it when he just sat in front of Delirious’ door for an entire day. To no avail. Then he did it the next day. He'd barely talk to anyone. 

It was the third day of the same routine when things changed. Tyler was watching him, seriously debating punching Evan in the jaw, when the door opened. A hand yanked Evan off the ground and brought his face close to the other. 

“Leave me the fuck alone, or I will skin you alive. Do not, bother me again.” Delirious dropped Evan to the floor and shut the door again.

Evan was speechless. “Delirious? Dude?”

Nothing.

“TB?”

**Nope. Still angry.**

“It's been a month.”

**I still do my duties. Just, quietly.**

Evan sighed and went back to his room. He flopped on his bed and for the thousandth time, tried to think about how to fix this.

**Incoming transmission.**

“Play it.”

Evan heard static and a jumbled voice speaking very, very fast.

“Delirious! It's Ohm. Cartoonz and I are not dead, I repeat, we are very much alive. Look, we might not be after this is sent, but I need you to come help us. Get the captain to take you, kill him, bone him, whatever it takes. Don't trust Eli, don't trust a thing he says.” There were sounds of fast running and another man cursing. “Shit, the guards are here. Please Delirious, whatever it takes.”

**End of transmission.**

“TB, Wait!”

**What?**

“I'm sorry about what I said, your opinions do matter. They help me make every decision I make.”

**Good. I know. I was just waiting for you to say it. What do you need?**

“Get Delirious to listen to that as soon as possible. Whatever he wants, we’ll do.”


	9. Whatever He Wants

Evan ran out of his room at the speed of light. He rounded the corner past his door and basically slid in front of Delirious’ door. He knocked on it. “Jon! Let me in!”

He paused for a second waiting for a response. There was none. 

He pounded on the door again. “JON-”   
The door whipped open, revealing a completely livid Delirious. His hair was messy and his eyes were red. Evan couldn’t help but wonder how he could cry with his special eyes. How does that even work? Why had he not asked himself that before?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a punch to the face. 

He grunted in pain and stumbled back at the force. Delirious advanced towards him, causing Evan to back up towards the opposite wall of the hallway. “I thought I told you I would kill you the next time I saw you.” 

Evan put his hands up as both a defense and a sign of surrender. He hit the back wall and froze. One option. “Jonathan, wai-”

“I ALSO TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT.” Delirious hit Evan square in the gut.

Evan doubled over, grasping at his gut. He gulped for air.

“I don’t even know why I trusted you, why I told you my most valuable secret in the first place! If you were just going to sell me out for your own gain, I. Never. Would. Have. Trusted. You.” He ended each word with a hit or kick towards Evan. Evan sunk towards the ground in resignation. 

But he did protest. “Delirious, I’m-”

“Oh, you’re  _ sorry _ ?! Don’t fucking lie, you sold me out like I was trash. My friends are dead because of you!” He delivered a kick that was way too hard. Part of Delirious told him to pause after that kick. 

_ Stop hurting me! You know I didn’t kill them, it’s not MY fault.  _ Evan’s voice rang through Delirious’ skull.

Delirious looked at the Evan that was below him, bruises forming on his face and clutching at his gut. Anger swelled within him again. It’s his fault.

_ My fault that you fell in love with me? I didn’t know, if I had known maybe I wouldn’t have sold you out. _

Maybe isn’t good enough. Delirious shifted so he could kick Evan again.

“They’re alive.” Evan managed to gasp out.

Delirious froze. “The  _ fuck  _ did you just say?”

“They’re alive. Your friends.”

_ See? I didn’t kill them, and neither did you. Just trust me.  _ Evan’s voice rang through Delirious’ head, even though he was right in front of him. 

Delirious pulled Evan up to standing position by the hem of his shirt. “You have to show me proof within the next thirty seconds or I will kill you with my bare hands.”

He let go of Evan and waited.

Evan nodded and walked/stumbled to his room. He sat on the nearest chair, and gestured for Delirious to sit in the other one.

“TB, play the most recent message for Del.”

**Yes, sir.**

Evan watched as Delirious heard Ohm’s voice explain that they were okay. A lot of emotions passed over Delirious’ face, and Evan finally felt the consequences of his actions full force. He didn’t notice it before, but Delirious had obviously lost weight, looked very sickly, and had been crying for ages. He knows that he’s been slowly killing himself with guilt, shame, every negative emotion you can think of for the past few weeks. And it was mostly his fault.

Delirious couldn’t describe what he did the past few weeks even if he tried. He didn’t even know how he was functioning at that moment. His anger at Evan really pushed him forward, funnily enough. But hearing Ohm and Cartoonz cursing in the background was too much. He was so happy, so grateful to whatever god who decided his friends wouldn’t die. Once the transmission was done, he pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapped his arms around them, and started sobbing quietly. It was not sad, or angry. He was so grateful he simply couldn’t take it.

Evan didn’t know what to do. He wanted to comfort him, but considering that Delirious just beat the living shit out of him, he hesitated.

“I’m still angry at you.” Delirious mumbled, tears running silently through his cheeks.

“I would be too.” Evan said.

“Hmph.”

“I hope that you don’t mind that I called in some people to ask for their advice.”

“What?” Delirious glared at Evan.

“Don’t be so defensive, these are my most trusted people.” Evan said. “They’ll be here any second.

Delirious continued to glare at Evan, tears running down his cheeks. Then Tyler, Craig, David, Marcel, Lui, and Brock all walked in. Perfect timing.

"What's up?" Marcel said, questioningly.

"WelI you see, I need you here to listen and well-”

“EVAN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?” Brock interrupted.

Evan glanced at Delirious. “Uh, I did something. I deserved the beating.”

“Yeah, you did.” Delirious sniffed.

Tyler sighed and sat down in the nearest chair. “Get it over with.”

“What do you say about going back to earth?”

There was a long silence. 

And then chaos broke out. All of Evan’s friends burst into yelling.

“Evan what the FUCK?! AREN'T WE TRYING TO STAY  _ AWAY  _ FROM EARTH?!”

“WE DON'T NEED ANY NEW SUPPLIES OR ANYTHING!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”

“IS THIS FOR HIM?” That was the line that stood out the most to Evan. It was Marcel who said it, and he was pointing accusingly at Delirious.

There was another pause. “It is, isn't it?” He lowered his arm and exhaled, disappointed and appalled. “Well?”

Evan glanced at Delirious. “I-well…”

“Of course it's for me.” Delirious said. “My friends are alive. In a way, he's just trying to show me why I shouldn't kill him.”

“Keep in mind that you already tried.” Brock pointed out. 

“Fuck off.”

“Del…”

Delirious turned to face Evan. “You still don't get to talk to me like we’re friends. So shut up.”

“Delirious. I'm still the captain.”

“And I'm still a guy that's handy with a weapon. Go on and just try to beat me.”

Evan sighed. “Can't you just be happy your friends are alive?”

“Not when I'm fucking billions of miles away!”

“That was your own decision!”

“Yeah? Okay then Mr. Know-it-all-”

“AHEM.” Mini said, getting their attention. “You called us here for advice Evan, so spit it out or we’re leaving you to argue with Delirious ALONE.”

Evan breathed deeply and collected himself. As much as he wanted to argue with Delirious, he needed to make his point.

“We’re going to earth.”

Tyler hit his legs with his hands before spinning in a frustrated circle dramatically. “Are you kidding me Evan? This is idiotic, even for you. You're risking your ship and everyone aboard for one man. ONE MAN.” He pointed at Delirious. “No offense but how the fuck did he wrap you around his finger like that?”

“I didn't wrap him around my finger…”

“YOU BOTH KNOW WHAT I MEAN.”

Evan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thoughts. “I need to do this for him to pay him back. But I also need to do this for myself.” He took a deep breath before looking at everyone gathered around. “Eli knows what happened to my father.”

Everyone looked at him sympathetically after this statement. 

David spoke up. “But Evan, you are  _ still _ putting everyone aboard this ship at risk.”

“That's where you guys come in.”

And Evan explained his idea. 

* * *

Evan likes to believe he's good at handling people. He's learned to read them well. He was forced to understand humans from a young age. 

So he was speechless when a knock on his door woke him up and he found out who it was. He sat up in his bed, still half asleep. Most people contact him through their earpiece or TB so he had no idea what the fuck was happening. 

“TB, who is it?”

**It’s Delirious, sir.**

“WHAT?!” Evan immediately ran his hands through his hair, frantically trying to fix his bedhead. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, so he brought the sheets up to his neck, covering the scars he constantly tried to hide. “Uh, let him in…” 

There was just enough time before Del stormed into his room for Evan to turn bright red and wonder what the hell he was doing. 

Delirious stormed into his bedroom, Hoot bobbing along behind him. Hoot was issuing lots of beeps so fast Evan had no idea how Delirious ever understood him. 

“Shut up!” Del said before flopping face first onto Evan’s bed, bouncing slightly until he settled. Evan immediately curled up into a ball, overly conscious of Delirious. Out of fear and-well, you know.

“C-can I help you?”

“Make Hoot stop scolding me.” Del mumbled into the bed. Hoot made a very offended series of beeps. It was kind of impressive.

“Oh, you don’t get to call me that!”

Hoot buzzed in the air for a second before slamming down onto Delirious back, making him wheeze. “Oh, you  _ prick _ ! I should disassemble you right now!”   
Hoot continued issuing beeps and Delirious kept threatening him. Evan just stared on in disbelief and confusion. “Delirious, what are you doing here? I thought you hated me.”

Delirious rolled over and aimed a kick at Hoot before answering. “Don’t misunderstand.” He sighed. “I’m still unbelievably pissed off at you and maybe slightly murderous.”

“Then why are in my bed?”

“They’re keeping me awake.”

Evan let the sheet covering his torso drop, more concerned for Delirious to care about himself. “What is?”

Delirious covered his face with his hands. “The  _ voices _ . Constant chatter. They never shut up, Evan. As much as I hate you right now, I need a distraction.”

“I’m your distraction?”

“Think of it as a compliment.”   
“I would, but you threatened to kill me within the past minute.”

He saw Delirious chuckle lightly. “Fair point.”   
“Do you want to talk about the voices?”

“Why the fuck should I talk to you about anything?”

“Because you came to  _ me _ .”

A long pause. “Fair point.” He said quietly. 

“So, do you want to actually talk about it?”

He watched as Delirious took his hands off his face and stared at the ceiling. He looked really tired. “Can I ask you a question?”

“What’s up?”

Delirious shifted until he was sitting criss-cross and facing Evan. “Be completely and utterly honest with me.” He broke eye contact and looked at his feet. “Please.” He said desperately.

“Just ask me.”

“Why did you sell me out like you did? Did I break your trust, or was I misunderstanding something? I thought we were close, I told you everything, you told me about your past, I- I just thought we were friends.”

“We are!”

“And yet you  _ sold me out _ . Like I was trash.” 

“It was a moment of weakne-”

“Oh, cut the crap.” Delirious rolled his eyes. “You think this is the first time I’ve been sold out? The first time I’ve been betrayed? The only difference is I expect that from  _ them _ . Not you. So, tell me the truth.”

“I had to.”

“You don’t  _ have  _ to do anything. There’s always another option. It’s a good thing to realize.”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t care about you. I really really do. It’s just, it was the first hint of my dad since I was beaten into shape.” He looked down at his hands, a little shameful. “I couldn’t resist. I was selfish and I regretted it as soon as I realized Eli played me so he could work on destroying you.”

Delirious said nothing. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks but he had a tiny smile.

“But then your friends sent that message and you had hope again.” Evan smiled to himself. “You know, after you beat the living shit out of me.”

He heard Delirious laugh lightly before wiping the tears off his cheeks. 

Evan relaxed at that, not realizing how tense he was. It wasn’t worry for himself, it was strictly worry for Delirious. He exhaled in relief before yawning. What could he say? Delirious interrupted his sleep. He rubbed at his eyes for a little bit, trying to shake off the drowsiness. He felt his mattress shift so he opened his eyes, only to find Delirious advancing towards him. 

“D-Delirious?”

Delirious chuckled. “Calm your man tits.” He crawled towards Evan before pulling him into one of the tightest hugs Evan has ever experienced.    
Evan instantly panicked.  _ Do I hug him back? I thought he wanted to kill me, what-? Do i do nothing? No that’s awkward, this is awkward, I’m taking too much time thinking about this- _

“So, there’s thing called breathing, Evan, I’ve heard it helps you, you know,  _ live. _ ” Delirious said quietly.

Evan took a deep breath before putting his head on Delirious’ shoulder. He put his arms around Delirious and held him close. “Thank you for not killing me.”

“Sure.”

Evan squeezed Del tighter. “And thank you for forgiving me. If I was in your situation, I don’t think I’d be able to forgive anyone,  _ ever _ .”

He felt Delirious shudder lightly. He immediately felt guilty. He must’ve brought up some painful memories.

Delirious pulled away slightly and put his forehead against Evan’s. Evan lost his shit at this. Yes, he was still a tiny bit scared, but this suddenly became way more intimate than he was anticipating.    
“D-Delirious? Uh, I should get some sleep, or some, uh-”

“Call me Jonathan. It’s okay. I forgive you.” Evan raised his head slightly. Delirious’ eyes were closed, and he was holding both sides of Evans face. 

Evan held Del’s head between his hands as well, gaining a surge of confidence. “Jonathan. Thank you.”

He saw Delirious smile before he closed the distance and pressed his lips lightly against Evan’s.

Evan immediately felt like he was melting. A warmth spread through his veins from where he touched Jonathan. Delirious pulled away breathily.    
“Jonathan…” Evan said, both tentative and desperate. 

And his lips were against his again. It wasn’t the gentle, warm kiss he received earlier, it was frenzied and fucking  _ hot _ . He felt Delirious dig his fingers into the side of his face as he set out to start a steady rhythm. Evan was having trouble thinking anything at all except  _ Holy Crap _ . He moved his hands down so he could push lightly against Jonathan’s chest. Jonathan ignored the push and kept their lips connected, nibbling lightly on Evan’s bottom lip, asking for permission.

Evan pushed harder. 

“ _ WHAT? _ ” Jonathan said, breaking the kiss.

“What are you  _ doing _ ?” Evan was still struggling to form coherent thoughts, but he did know that something was up.

“Using you as a distraction.” He leaned back in for another kiss.

Evan pushed him back again and frowned. “So, when you called me your distraction earlier, you meant  _ this _ ?”

“Not really. I’m still angry at you, but you just never shut up.”

“Jon, we haven’t talked in days. Since I told you the plan. What the fuck are you talking about?”

Jonathan sighed. He looked at Evan, eyes full of something Evan couldn’t even name. Exhaustion? Determination? Rage? Lust? It looked like all of the above.

He put his hand on Evan’s knees and pushed them down until Evan was no longer curled up. He swung his legs over so he was sitting on Evan’s lap.

“U-uh Jonathan, I- this isn’t-I don’t feel comfortable-I don’t want to-but I do, I mean, wait-”

“For the love of every god out there, just  _ shut up _ .” He leaned in for another kiss with Evan, just a light peck on the lips, before he slumped against Evan’s chest. “I don’t trust you.”

“And we’ve gone full circle. So why are you here?”

“I’m lonely, scared, and pissed off. Plus, I haven’t slept in days, they’re getting worse.”

“So, your solution was to use my lips and dick as a distraction?”

“I couldn’t resist, I was selfish and regretted it-” Delirious imitated Evan.

“Did you just make fun of my apology?”

“Yeah.” He snorted. 

Evan smiled and wrapped his arms around Jon. “You wanna stay here and just sleep?”

“You just missed out on the best sex you would’ve ever experienced.” 

“Eh, I don’t know about that.”

“Dick.”

* * *

Jonathan carefully pulled Evan’s arms off him. He watched Evan snore peacefully for a minute before carefully sitting up and rolling off the bed. He got up and looked at the wall, focused. He knew he was doing the right thing. Evan’s plan was idiotic. Selfish, and stupid. This didn’t involve him, this was about  _ him _ . Not Evan. 

“Hoot.” He whispered. Hoot came over, too slow. “I know you don’t like this, but I need to do it. Gimme the drug.”

Hoot glowed a subtle red and let a little compartment open, revealing a syringe. Jonathan took it and leant over Evan. 

“Sorry, Evan.” He said before sinking the syringe into Evan’s arm and pushing the drug into his body.

_ Jonathan. Jonathan. I can’t believe you did this.  _ Evan’s voice sounded like he was in tears. It was like he was whispering in his ear.

Delirious leant down and pecked Evan on the lips. “Hope I’ll see you again, Captain Fong.”

He got up and walked towards the door. 

“Alright Hoot. Let’s get changed.” He pushed the door open. “We’re going back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been ages, huh? Well, welcome back I guess! I still have way too much fun writing this story.  
> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!


	10. Go Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delirious goes back

“I’m a genius.”

Hoot bobbed lightly around Delirious, watching him. Del had hair dye in his hands, and well, his hair. He had brought the bottle along when he first came onto this ship, it was a disguise. But, well, he didn’t get that far. Although it came in handy now. Evan will be asleep for ages, and he had some time until the rest of the ship started to wake up. Dye his hair, steal some clothes, hope Hoot got the paint. 

Two of those three were done. And he was in the process of dying his hair. Almost done. The clothes he stole were resting on his bed. He walked over to Hoot.

“Gimme the paint.” He grabbed it and squirted some into his hand. He started to paint his face, from his forehead to under his eyes, leaving rough, scattered lines. He brought the shape down into points under his eyes, stopping about midway down his cheeks. It was simple black paint, but he wants to be almost unrecognizable. He’ll camp out on Earth until it was dark, and the paint, black hair, and black clothes will hide him. He sighed and walked over to his bed. His hands were covered in the black hair dye and he couldn’t care less. He ripped off his clothes and leant down to grab the stolen black muscle shirt. He held it up and scoffed. He didn’t really have a lot of muscle to show off. Just a lot of scars and tattoos. He had looked for a long sleeve black shirt, but he couldn’t find one, and he was on a slight time crunch. He’d like to leave the ship with extra time. He yanked it on, not caring about the black hair dye smearing on the shirt. He was careful about smudging the paint thought. He could already feel it drying.  _ Nice.  _

He pulled on the black pants and sat on the bed, waiting. He looked at the wall, trying to plan. His eyes were a problem, he needed them to not glow or he’ll never sneak around Eli. The only solution is to go in blind.

He shuddered slightly. He was blind for a year of his life while he pooled money to buy him these eyes. That year felt like the longest year of his life, he doesn’t want to go back to  _ that _ . He leaned back. 

“Hoot.”

_ Yes? _

“Can you guide me like you did the year after I built you?”

_ Yes. _

“Okay.” Delirious said quietly. He took a careful breath. “Alright. Is TB still disabled?”

Hoot bobbed twice. 

“Good. Took me two days straight to get to her. It was an elegant design, and a nearly impossible firewall. It was easier to build you.”

Hoot gave off an offended beep.

“Oh hush, you were hard enough to build. I think I’ve just gotten smarter since then, that’s all. Is the cargo ship ready?”

_ Yes. _

“Perfect. Okay, Hoot. Vanish.” 

Hoot dropped to the ground with a thunk and folded into himself, taking on the shape of a pistol. 

_ You designed your robot to be a pistol?  _ Evan’s voice said.

_ So that’s what the pistol is. You sly son of a bitch, I knew I should’ve taken it from you. You told me you needed it to protect yourself from my other pets. _

Delirious scowled and went to pick up the pistol. Functions perfectly. He’s killed people with Hoot. Thank god for technology. Hoot wasn’t originally like this, but once he became Eli’s he needed it. He was forced to kill a lot of people. And he wasn’t going to use  _ his  _ weapons.

He shoved it in the back pocket of his pants and leant against the wall. Then he noticed it. The earrings Evan gave him by the side of the bed.

He picked them up and rolled them in between his fingers. Evan had wanted him to put in both. And he wasn’t going to lie, he’s  _ always _ wanted one of these.

But, Evan sold him out.

_ Oh, c’mon, I apologized for that. I thought we were good, we even kissed. _

Jonathan sighed. “But, why give me  _ two _ ?”

_ To compensate. People aren't supposed to have these. _

Jonathan shuddered. He could practically feel Evan behind him, sliding his hands under his shirt. The voice was practically whispering in his ear. 

“That doesn’t explain anything. Why should I trust you?”

_ I didn’t use you for sex. I apologized and obviously meant it. I care about you. I didn’t expect to, especially considering how we first met, but the way you talked about Earth-it was beautiful. _

“Stop, this isn’t a thing.”

_ But I know that you drugged me so you would stop me from going. Not because you didn’t think I could save Ohm and Cartoonz, but because you didn’t want me in danger.  _

Delirious hit himself in the face, hard. He groaned and put the earrings back by his bed before getting up and washing out the hair dye. He shook his head, spraying the little bathroom with grey water. 

He was satisfied. Another perk of techology, fast acting hair dye. He braced himself a but, shoulders back before he jogged to his door, going to pull on his shoes. Once, he had them on, he stood up and opened the door. He hesitated thought, looking back at the earrings. If he gave him two, that means one can’t work without the other. Right?

And he did just drug Evan. After Evan was so sweet. He felt obligated. He jogged over to the bed and grabbed the two. He took one and paused before steeling himself and shoving it into his ear. He knew it was going to hurt, but holy fucking shit, this was unreal. He stumbled forward, falling on his knees and immediately biting into his arm to muffle his scream. He couldn’t describe it. His entire head throbbed and he blacked out for a little bit. He struggled to remain conscious.

And then it passed. No more pain, just him sweating and crying. He rolled over onto his back, panting.  _ Thank you Jonathan. It means something.  _

He sat up and recollected his thoughts and emotions. He shook his head, trying to eradicate the lingering pain.

He got up and grabbed the other earring, which he dropped when he fell. He made sure he had Hoot and jogged out the door. He Ran as silently as he could down the hallway, but he paused in front of Evan’s door. He leant down and placed the earring in front of the door. 

“Sorry Evan. I think I love you, despite it all. Safe travels.” He turned around and sprinted down the hallway. Call him an idiot, but seriously Evan’s plan was stupid. He thought he could just go to Eli’s and just strut around while his ship hangs out in Earth’s orbit.  _ Stupid.  _ He doesn’t know shit about Eli. Or what he’s capable of.

Delirious continued rushing down the halls of the ship, hopping over railings and dropping down onto different floors. He wasn’t too worried about being loud but he was still careful. It was his own form of practice. If he makes even a fucking sound at Eli’s he’ll be shot on the spot. Every time he made a noise on this ship, he tried to find a way to correct it. Learn and get into the swing of things.

He knew he needed to practice this blind, but he couldn’t go there. Not yet. 

_ You’re doing good. It’s okay. You have me and Hoot to guide you. _

Oh, NOW Evan’s voice in his head was encouraging. He rolled his eyes and continued to run into the depths of the ship, accompanied by the golden glow that lit up the floors. 

He panted lightly and also quietly. He put his hand on his knees and smiled. There it is.

He walked up to the control panel, cracking his knuckles. “Time to use her to our advantage. Thank you in advance TB. It’s been fun.”

* * *

Evan woke up to what sounded like thirty alarms in his ear. He clapped his hands over his ears.

“TB! Power DOWN. DOWN. OFF.”

There was no response. Then Evan noticed many different things at once. One: Delirious was gone. Two: It hurt to move all his limbs. Three: There was blood on his arm. Four: TB wasn’t responding. Five: Something was very, very wrong.

He jumped out of bed, grimacing, before jogging lightly to his control panel.

His jaw dropped.  What the fuck? His control panel was glitching all over the place, and the alarms were in his face, the notifications and alarms side by side. He got to work instantly. His fingers flew across the control panel. He called David using it while he attempted to turn off the sound of the alarms.

David’s face popped up on his control panel and he looked tired as shit. He wasn’t even wearing his glasses and he had obviously just rolled out of bed, the lights in his room weren’t even on. Meaning that obviously the alarms going off in Evan’s room just went off through his most vital associates’ rooms as well.

“Talk to me.”

“I don’t fucking know, everything just started freaking out.” Daithi was tired, but his eyes were focused. Evan could hear him tapping on his own mini panel as fast as Evan.

“Okay, help me get these alarms to shut up so I can  _ think. _ ”

“Working on it.”

It took another half minute until the alarms were shut off. He and Daithi sighed in relief. “Okay, let’s take a look at what we have here.” Evan said.

**SIR.**

“Oh, TB you’re okay. You weren’t responding earlier.”

**The alarms were more important. That doesn’t matter, ther-**

“The cargo ship’s gone.”

“WHAT?!” Daithi said.

**I was hacked.**

It was Evan’s turn to yell. “EXCUSE ME?!”

Then it hit him. He stood up. “Daithi, fix things. I’ll be back.” 

He ran out of his room and basically flew out the door.

“OW!” He yelled, grabbing his foot. The stud of an earring was on the bottom of his foot. 

He picked it out of his foot and looked at it.

_ These are the earrings I gave to Delirious… _

He glanced around the hallway but didn’t see the other one. 

He stumbled into Del’s room. 

“Jonathan!”

No response.

_ Shit, shit, shit. _

Of course he’s fucking gone. He took the cargo ship and went to Earth. He ran back into his room.

“Daithi, it was Jonathan, he hacked TB and took the ship back to earth.”

“And how did he manage that, especially the hacking? He’d need a panel.”

Evan looked at the earring, blushing. “I-uh, he drugged me.”

“Ah, so you two were together.”

“Yeah, it’s my fault.”

He heard Daithi snort lightly. “Alright, I got the ship back in order, we’re okay now.”

“Thank you.” Evan looked at the earring. Only one. That has to mean..”Daithi?”

“What now Evan? I’d like to get some fucking sleep.”

“Remember those earrings you fashioned to work specially for Delirious?”

“Of course. I spent ages working on them and perfecting them so that  _ you  _ could control him.”

“Do you think you could contact him if he was wearing  _ one _ ?”

“Evan I swear to god I haven’t slept in days and you want me to see if I can get something that is billions of miles away to work in a way that simply goes against its design and programming? Are you fucking with me?”

“I’m sorry, but-”

“No buts!” He heard clattering as Daithi rose from his seat so he could pace around his room. “What the  _ fuck  _ do we have to gain from going after him? He’s a nice guy, don’t misunderstand, but what the hell?”

“I need to know about-”

“No, you don’t. Live your fucking life Evan, and get over yourself. We all know this is because you like him and even if you do want to confront Eli, the fuck will you end up doing, huh? You gonna kill him, get him to tell you how he killed your da-”

“ENOUGH.” Evan said, slamming his hands on his control panel. “Get some sleep Daithi. And tomorrow,  _ get that fucking earring working so we can find Delirious. _ ” He said through gritted teeth.

“Evan, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-”

“Good. Night.”

“Evan-”

“I  _ said  _ good night.”

Evan watched as the little window vanished before walking into his room. He paused at the foot of his bed, remembering how much changed in a few short hours. 

* * *

Delirious rolled from behind one crate to the other, listening intently to the voices. His eyes were shut tight, and his heart was racing at a million beats a second. He felt Hoot bump into him silently a few times. Instructions. Two crates he can hide behind. Two guards sitting on the crate to his left, looking away from him. 

He crept along to his left reaching out silently for the crate. And, he opened his eyes. The guards began to turn, but they were both dead before they could say anything, throats slit. Delirious wiped the blood off his face. Gross. 

He stood up and sighed in relief. Clear. For the moment. He glanced back towards the corpses that littered the ground. 

He was very happy he was in the clear for even the moment. It means he can open his eyes. It means he could see. And nothing gave him more relief than seeing. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. 

“Alright. We’re almost inside. And then you vanish, as soon as there’s light, okay?”   
Hoot bobbed happily.

Delirious panted lightly. He could see the light and the door with the panel that he needed to use. 

“Alright let’s see what we can do.” He walked towards the panel. He tapped it lightly, watching it light up. Now, he has two choices. He can try to hack it, knowing it won’t work, or he can try the  _ other  _ thing. He shivered at the thought.

But he knew. Eli had measures against Delirious’ hacking. He sighed carefully, trying to keep his composure. And he carefully typed the word he so despised into the panel, causing the door to open.

He saw the letters burned bright into his brain as he walked through the now open door. 

_ Pet. _

He shook it off and crouched down, waiting for Hoot to turn into the gun. He grabbed it once he did and started jogging down the hall, knowing where Eli kept prisoners. And he was pretty certain Ohm and Cartoonz were being held as prisoners at this point. He made sure he was silent, and took whatever cover he could find. He panted lightly, breathing through his nose lightly and quick to quiet his own breathing. Eli’s little base was nothing too complicated. A few warehouses here and there, crates and supplies littering the front of them. Then there was the main building. Where Jonathan was right now. White with an occasional red light her or there. It was a huge building, with two different wings and three different stories. And there was  _ his  _ house. A huge mansion connected to the center part of the building connected to the wings. This is where Delirious was kept alongside his other “pets”. It was a beautiful mansion and building and Delirious despised every fucking inch of it. He was in the center building right now, and all he needed to do was go straight. He continued running through the hallways and reached another door. He tapped the blasted word into the panel again, running through the now open door. He knew every time he tapped the word in, security would be alerted, so he knew he was losing time. Every step he took, he was getting more and more tense. He held the gun in both of his hands, pointed at the ground, safety off.

He knew he was close when he noticed the dramatic change in lighting. The white with occasional red turned into red with the occasional white. The walls turned from white to grey to coal black. Portraits of Eli and his ships lined the walls. Delirious felt himself starting to panic at the fact that he was back in this hell hole. Being with Evan on his ship and talking about his favorite things and falling for Evan...well, it made him forget. 

_ But it’s okay Jonathan. I’m here to encourage you, to cheer you on. You can do this.  _

Delirious took a deep breath. The voices had popped up when he first became Eli’s favorite. It was his mother and Eli. It was sickening, because his mom’s voice was loving and wonderful, and so was Eli’s. But in all the wrong ways.  _ You’re beautiful,  _ his mom would say, and the faint feeling of a hug would envelop him. Then Eli would say the same thing and Delirious would feel the burning pain of being branded. Again.

Eventually, his mom’s voice faded away, and it was just Eli torturing him relentlessly. Once her voice was gone, Delirious shut down. He would barely eat or drink, and did everything Eli asked without and protest. He’d let Eli and the other use him, just laying there, tears falling silently out of his eyes and just staring blankly at the bed or the wall or anything so he didn't have to look at them.

Luke and Ryan were what dragged him out of that. It was the little things. They got him the first plant he ever put into his greenhouse, a little dahlia. They stole ink and made a tattoo gun so they could cover up his scars and brands. They brought him clothes, they took care of him. And every time they did anything for him, he’d come back a little bit more. And eventually, he started asking Eli for things.  _ Ask and ye shall receive.  _ It’s what he always said. And eventually, he learned to live without his mom and with Eli.

And now there’s Evan. Giving Jon hope and a coping mechanism. As great as it was, he was frustrated. Now, when it gets taken away, he’ll be destroyed again. 

Delirious sighed. He needs to focus. Luke and Ryan need to come first. He continued running down the now black hallways. He stopped at a corner, catching his breath. He glanced around it very carefully, eyeing the two guards in front of the elevator.  _ Shit.  _

The elevator led down to the prisoners. Two guards. He can’t take one out without alerting the other. He could alert Eli with a touch. Jonathan sighed. He pulled a little pocket knife out of his shoe. He picked it up from one of the corpses he left behind. He slowly unfolded it and aimed towards the head of the guard looking at the wall next to him. The other one was fiddling with his rifle so there’d be a delay in his reaction. Jonathan has never been the best at throwing knives, but this wasn’t that far of a shot. He hoped. 

He tossed it lightly, but with enough speed and rotation that it sunk into the guy’s cheek. He yelled in pain and grabbed at the knife, eyes squeezed shut. Delirious was already on them at that point. He shot the guard to his right through the head and shot the one with the knife in his cheek right after that. 

He panted and yanked the pocket knife out of the now dead guard’s cheek. He wiped it on his pants and folded it back up. That was surprisingly useful, considering things. He smashed the button to go down. “Come on…”

The doors opened and he held his hand against the panel. “Prisoners.” He said slowly and clearly. He heard a slight buzzing noise, and he felt the elevator carry him down. It felt agonizingly slow, and he sprinted out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened again. 

“OHM! CARTOONZ!” He yelled. He knew there were no guards down here, only cameras. The guards at the elevator were meant to be the only ones. He didn’t worry about the cameras either. He already took care of that. 

He ran lightly down the corridor, shouting at the doors. “Come on, come on. OHM, CARTOONZ! GUYS IT”S DELIRIOUS!”

Then he heard it. 

“Delirious?” A faint voice. He turned around and immediately sprinted towards the voice. 

He stopped in front of the door that he heard the voice from. He pressed against the panel lightly. He hoped to god that it would open. And it did, revealing a slightly beaten up and tired Cartoonz on the ground. Delirious dropped to his knees and pulled Cartoonz into a bone-breaking hug. “Oh thank god Luke, I thought you were dead…” He squeezed tighter.

Cartoonz chuckled lightly. “Thanks for coming back, you shit. How was space?”

“I’ll tell you later. Let’s get you out of here.” Delirious pulled away, glancing around the room and frowning. “Luke,,,,”

“Hm?”

“Where’s Ohm?” Delirious said carefully.

He watched as Luke’s face fell. He didn’t say anything and he looked at his hands before standing up,

“Luke. Where’s Ryan?”

“Jonathan…”

“WHERE IS HE?” Delirious was panicking, 

He heard Luke sigh. “Things were going well, and then we got caught…”

“LUKE.”   
“We got caught, and you had left so, well, there was a spot to fill.”   
Delirious’ heart dropped. “No.”   
“I’m sorry Delirious, but Ohm is-” Tears rolled down his cheeks.He looked up at Delirious.

“He’s the new favorite.” Delirious whispered.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having way too much fun writing this, it literally cannot be healthy. Anyways, as usual, thank you all so much for reading this! I love any and all kudos and comments.   
> And as always, I hope you enjoy!


	11. Full Circle

Delirious panted heavily, resting his head against the wall he was up against. “How did this happen?”   
Luke sighed next to him. “You left, we got caught, there was a spot to fill…” His face darkened. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. He told us-”

“Come on, you know to never trust that piece of shit. How long?”

“Uh, a few days?”

“Way too long.  _ Way  _ too long, shit. Ah, Hoot’s coming back.” He watched as Hoot sped back towards him. “Talk to me little buddy.”

He felt Luke listen in as Hoot told them. 

“Of course the bastard is keeping him where he kept me. He wants me to find him.”

“So?”

“That’s not stopping me. Come on, let’s go. Hoot, vanish.” He grabbed the pistol and rounded the corner. He ran, pistol pointed at the ground again, ready to fire on command. They had already gotten back to the ground level of Eli’s sick mansion, and Delirious knew exactly where he was going. He followed the route that he knew better than himself. A right over here, run down the hallway for a ways, take another right, then a left, and run down the hallway until you run into the third door on the left. He leant against the wall again.    
“Wait out here.”

“Oh, no, nope, fuck that.”   
“Luke, I came here to save you and Ohm. I can handle Eli. And I will make sure Ohm gets out, and I need you here to take care of him just in case. Plus, you remember the first few days for me. You know how it affects a person. I almost killed you then.”

“Fine. I’ll wait outside.” 

Jonathan nodded and steeled his nerves before walking towards the door. A hand stopped him though. “Jon, for the love of god, don’t do anything stupid.”

“No guarantees, but I’ll try my best.”

“Go get Ohm.”    
Delirious nodded again and walked inside the blasted room. It was sickening to be back in it. Of course, the bed was the biggest thing in the room and it was, well, there were pillows and blankets all over it. Del had a thing for pillows and blankets. He loved nesting. It was comfy and amazing and he loved it.

Even though the bed took up most of the room, there was still enough for  _ observers  _ to stand around the room, there was a dresser here or there, and a little closet for the favorite’s belongings, if they have any. The room was dark at the moment, but Del knew that Eli could turn on lights that are so bright they heat up the room. He can make them any color he wants as well. The rest of the room was mostly bare, but the room was mostly black. For a split second, Delirious felt like he was back on Evan's ship. The red and pink underlying lights and tones told him otherwise. It was nice room to a stranger, it smelled amazing and it was welcoming and homey. But to Delirious it was hell itself. Every favorite would agree with him.

Delirious was too caught up in memories. He scanned the room again, moving silently. 

And there he was. Delirious shuddered. Ryan was sprawled out on the bed, curled up in the fetal position underneath a blanket. Delirious couldn't see a lot of his body but what he could see wasn't pretty. He had a black eye and his face was covered with cuts and bruises. His shoulders were covered in scratches and Delirious saw the edge of a festering brand burn. 

Overwhelming sympathy came over Delirious. He has been exactly where Ohm is. It's indescribable how absolutely horrible it is. Mentally devastating. Physically painful. 

He walked extremely carefully towards the bed. He reached out to touch Ryan's shoulder lightly. 

“Ohm, hey…” He said, but as soon as his hand actually made contact with Ohm’s shoulder, Ohm’s entire body shuddered and he twitched away, even in his sleep. Delirious frowned to himself. He sighed and reached out again. 

“Ohm.” He said again. “ _ Ohm. _ ”

He shook Ohm’s shoulder fairly aggressively. He watched as Ohm’s head lifted slightly and his brown eyes blinked slowly open. “Delirious?” He said quietly.

“Hey Ohm.”

“Delirious!” Ohm sat up and wrapped his arms around Delirious, wincing slightly at the movement. 

“It’s nice to see you too, but we need to get you out of here.” He pulled Ohm’s arms off of him. 

“Good luck with that.”

Delirious whipped around, pistol raised, aiming at Eli’s head, safety off. “What are you doing here?”   
“I could ask the same thing.” Eli slowly walked to his left. Delirious followed with his pistol, making sure he was still in front of the frail Ohm. “I mean, this is  _ my  _ home.”

“This is anything but a home.”

“Oh, come on. Don't be like that.”

“We are  _ leaving. _ ” Delirious tugged Ohm's arm up, getting him to slowly stand up. Del knew he was naked so he tried not to look at his body, well aware of what it would look Iike. 

“Where will you go? You know I have footholds in every corner of this place.”

“On the opposite side of the planet.”

“You know I meant everywhere. You know about my allies. So again, where will you go?”

“I can bring them back to-“

“No. You can’t. Think about what you did to Evan. You think he’ll let you back on my ship?”

“HIS ship.”

“Excuse me?”

Delirious’ finger twitched lightly on the trigger. “It’s  _ his _ ship. Not yours in any way.”

He saw Eli’s eyes darken ever so slightly. 

“Fine, whatever. Do you really think he’ll take you back?”

“Yes.”

“NO. You drugged him and he has to take care of his people and ship. He has other things to worry about and face it, you were dangerous to him.”

Delirious hands started shaking with both anger and fear. The most upsetting thing was that he knew he was right. “Well, I could just shoot you right now.”

“Sure. Say you do. You’re free. Ohm and Cartoonz are free. But the question remains. Where will you go? You will be hunted down and tortured to death.” 

Delirious said nothing, mind racing.  _ What can I do in this situation? I need to get Ohm out of here as fast as I can.  _

“See? You know I’m right.” Eli said. He raised his hands in surrender. “So put the gun down and let’s compromise.”

“Gun stays up. Tell me about this compromise.” He took a step back protectively, getting closer to Ohm. He was a bit surprised when Ohm leans against Delirious, shaking. “Go ahead and sit down on the bed Ohm. I’ll get you out of here.” He felt Ohm nod slightly against his back and heard the thud of Ohm sitting on the bed. 

“Come one Del. Can’t we be civilized?”

“You are anything but civilized. Tell. Me.”

“You and Cartoonz can leave. But little  _ Ryan _ here stays. He’s the new favorite. You know the rules. The favorite stays.” Delirious swelled with rage at Eli saying Ohm’s actual name. 

“No. Fuck that and  _ fuck _ you.”

“Fine. I have another proposition.”

“Spit it out.” 

“Bring me Fong.”

“No.”

“Delirious. If you bring me Fong, I’ll let you and Ohm and Cartoonz go. Hell, I’ll even give you safe houses on earth. The most luxurious places.”

“Why? Why do you want him so bad?”

“Unfinished business.”

“You killed his dad.”

Eli smirked lightly. “Yes. They stole my masterpiece from me. And you know the rules. Women can’t be captains.”

Delirious knew. It was horseshit. Some of the most brave, intelligent people were women. But he also knew from the moment Evan told him that Eli was the man who had seen his father last that Evan’s father was dead. He didn’t have the heart to tell Evan. 

Eli continued. “So, some things need to be taken care of.”

“Why not just say you plan on killing Evan like his dad?”

“Again, why can’t we be civilized?”

“No. I won’t bring you Evan.”

He heard Eli sigh. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to take care of you and the other-“

“But! I have another offer.”

“Oh?”

Delirious sighed before sitting in the bed lightly next to Ohm. He maintained eye contact with Eli and he slowly lowered his gun until it rested on the bed, close to Delirious.    
“Give me a minute.” He said towards Eli. He raised an eyebrow, but Del felt the tension in the room lessen ever so slightly. 

“Hey Ohm…” Delirious turned his full attention back to Ohm, only now noticing how badly he was shaking. His eyes were on Eli, wide and full of fear. He looked extremely out of it. “Hey.” Delirious grabbed Ohm’s face and made him look at him. He had never seen one of his friends look so disheveled or pitiful. He looked completely lost. His eyes seemed less bright, his skin was pale and it made Delirious wonder if he looked like this when it all began. 

“Ohm, I  _ will  _ get you out of here no matter what it takes, okay?”

“B-but, you couldn't escape before, how will he let us-”

“Listen to me Ohm. It’ll be fine, I swear. It’ll be fine. Okay?”

Ohm studied Delirious’ face carefully. Eyes darted back and forth, before he nodded lightly. 

“Good.” Delirious let go of his face and started to take off his shirt.    
“W-what?”   
Delirious just smiled, slipping off the rest of his shirt. He placed it lightly on his pistol, keeping a careful eye on Eli, who was watching with feigned interest. He carefully bunched his shirt up around Hoot. He put the little bundle in Ohm’s lap. He pulled Ohm into a hug. 

“Take this and Hoot. I told you I’ll get you out of here, and I will. But do not worry about me and get the  _ hell  _ out of here with Cartoonz.” He whispered. He broke the hug and yanked Ohm up, making sure he had the bundle in his hands. He pushed him towards the door, following. Eli watched, getting more and more curious by the second. “For now, wait outside with Cartoonz.” He pushed him forward to the door. Ohm glanced back before opening it and stepping through. 

“So, that’s your plan?” Delirious stared at the door, but heard Eli walk around the room and a thud as he sat on the bed.

“I had to improvise.” Delirious said to the door.

“You do realize that if I accept your offer, which is likely at this point, that it won’t be like before?”

“Yes.”

“No leaving this room, no contact with the others, no special treatment?”

“I understand.”

“Then fine. I accept your compromise.”

“Why?”   
“You don’t deserve a reason why. You’re an object.” Delirious could hear the chuckle in Eli’s voice. 

Delirious turned around to face his own personal hell. “Can I ask that you let me leave to go to one place?”

He saw Eli smirk and lean backwards slightly so that he was resting on his hands.    
“The greenhouses?”

“Yes.”   
“If you can bring them back from the dead state they’re in right now.”

“They’re  _ dead _ ?”

“I don’t have a need for them and you were the only one that took care of them.”

“Oh. Well, thank you, I can definitely-”

“But! You have to do me a little favor right now.” Delirious knew that smile. He walked slowly to Eli before kneeling down in front of him. He heard a chuckle and immediately felt hands in his hair. Del steeled himself as Eli guided his head towards his crotch.

Might as well dive right in instead of dipping a toe in at a time.

* * *

“And here we are. Full circle.” Evan said, fiddling with his hair. 

**You made the right decision.**

“Doesn’t feel like it.” He tried to shake off the exhaustion showing on his face. He sighed, resigned, before walking out of his room to head to the cafeteria. Once there, he spotted the girl he was meeting and sat across from her.

“Hey Captain.”

“Evan.” She smiled lightly and nodded. “How’s it going Rachel?” He continued.

“Meh. Could be better.”   
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He grabbed the little glass of wine and took a slow sip. He didn’t even like wine, but it was something to do.

Silence followed for a few seconds, before Rachel decided to break it. “So, I’m curious.”

“Aren't we all?”

She chuckled lightly, obviously faking the laugh. “News spreads fast around this ship. I thought you refused to go on any more of these. So, why now?”

Evan set down his glass. “Well, my mom was practically in hysterics.”

“She’s always almost in hysterics.”

Evan wondered how she knew that.

“Well, uh, some stuff happened, and it turns out that I’m pretty lonely.” He looked at his lap.

“Interesting. Sounds like you went through a whole lot. Care to elaborate?”

“If it’s okay, I think I’d rather not. I’m still figuring it out.” He picked at his fingernails, avoiding eye contact with Rachel.

It’s been a long time since Del left. Evan was so determined to go after him at first. He barely left his room no matter how many people nagged him. But eventually, he realized everyone was right. He had to stop counting the number of days Jonathan had been gone and actually do his duties as captain. He couldn’t let his personal issues get in the way.

Plus, David hasn’t been able to get the earring to work.

Who’s he kidding, he was just waiting for the right time. He’s stopped counting the days Delirious has been gone. He knows it’s been too long. More than two months, because that’s when he stopped keeping track. Again, too long.

“You know, sorry for prying, it’s okay. Let’s eat?” She said, yanking Evan out of his thoughts.

“Sure.”   
Rachel made to stand up but Evan held up his hand and went to get it himself. He walked over to the counter and grabbed the two plates, one full of pasta, the other of salad. Evan rolled his eyes. The girls always eat salad. Can’t seem to actually  _ enjoy _ food in front of the captain. Nothing wrong with a salad, but every time he’s been on one of these, this happens. He walked back to the table and set down the salad in front of her. 

“Here you go.” He walked back to his side and sat down with his food.

“This is good.” She said, trying to keep the conversation going. 

Evan raised his eyebrows doubtfully. “Yeah.”

Silence for a bit as they ate.

“So, any captainly duties going on?” She said, obviously joking.

Evan chuckled at that. “Nah, I’ve just been moping around the sh-”

Spoke too soon. His earring gave him the shock signalling a transmission. Evan shot up from the seat, almost knocking over his plate of food. 

“Sorry, Rachel I need to go. Some of that captainly stuff popped up.” He winked at her and jogged out of the cafeteria.

Once in his quarters, he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up so he was more comfortable. Thank god for his earring getting him the  _ hell  _ out of that freaking date. He didn’t want to spend an evening wooing a girl so that she’d keep him company when  _ all _ he wanted was to let loose a little. Call him a dick, but he was lonely. He walked into his control room before pulling out his chair. 

“So, a transmission?”

**Yes, sir.**

“Alright.” He brought up the panel and leant back in his chair, relaxing. He closed his eyes and yawned. “Play transmission.”

He listened, ready to hear the routine supply pick up message from Earth.

“God, I hope this gets to right ship.”

Evan shot forward, sending the chair flying backwards from underneath him. He was greeted with a well-groomed man fiddling with a few old scars that littered his face. He was smiling and looked fairly happy thought. Evan assumed he was someone of importance, few people on Earth look that well-groomed.

“Well, if it does make it to the right ship, that hopefully you are Mr. Captain Evan Fong. The name’s Ohmwrecker, but please call me Ohm.” A wide smile danced across Ohm’s face. “So, this probably comes as a surprise to you, but now that you’ve heard my name, hopefully you know who I am.”

Evan knew, but this was not what he was expecting. The last things he heard from this man were some very inappropriate words and gunshots and an explanation that he and Cartoonz weren’t dead. Delirious had told him he was one of the nicest people he had ever met, all he cared about was whether the people around him were doing okay. But, he knew how to handle himself and could kill a man without any hesitation. Evan had never actually seen him, but considering he was from the same hell that Delirious was from, Evan didn’t expect him to look this neat.  

“Wanna see my dog?” Ohm smiled and bent out of frame before popping back up with white dog with a black spot of fur over its eye, and a bit of its ear. Evan was confused as hell. It was a cute dog, sure, but he has no idea why Ohm sent this transmission. “I love him!” He hugged the dog before setting him down. “Look, Cartoonz is here as well!” And soon enough, Cartoonz was in frame, frowning. “Oh Ohm, are you doing the transmission?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey Evan, how’s space?” Cartoon smiled and walked away. He also looked too well groomed, way better than before.

“We’ve never been to space, and have no idea what it’s like. I’ve heard that it’s pretty, despite all the emptiness and, uh, space.” He held back laughter. 

“Where’s Jonathan?” Evan said quietly, touching the panel.

There was a few moments of Ohm containing his laughter, but slowly his face darkened.    
“Enough goofing around. Look, this’ll be hard to hear, but we need your help. Uh-” He cleared his throat. “Delirious is the, the new favorite and has been for months now and, uh-” He sniffed a bit, tears starting to well in his eyes. “Uh, I have been praying to anything and everything that, uh, he’d have escaped by now, but we haven’t heard from him at all and I would normally never do this but-”

Evan could see how hard of a time he was having.    
“I was the favorite for a few days at most and within those short few days I thought about killing myself six times. Del has already done it for years and now he’s back for months and I-we need to save him. Now, Cartoonz and I have spent the past few months building this safehouse so that Eli can’t get us. I’m going to send you very important directions and coordinates, but we can’t be too safe. Evan, I hope you know your history. In the early twentieth century and on, and in some cases earlier, there was this method of communication. Think about ships and the World Wars. Navy. Get your fancy technology to understand this. Get ready.”

“Record, TB.”

Ohm smiled lightly and issued a series of taps and noises. The same ones Delirious made all the time. Early 1900s, ships, the Navy. 

“OF COURSE!” Evan immediately understood. “TB, it’s morse code! Learn it.”

**Oh, of course. I’ll get on it.**

He heard Ohm exhale lightly. “No one else knows about this bunker, so make sure you find it, and we will not only get Delirious out, but a little birdie told me you’re looking for answers as well. Find us, and we will destroy him ourselves. Find us, Evan, and we will get you answers. Come alone and come prepared.”

Evan didn’t even breathe. “I’ll see you soon, Evan.” And the face disappeared.

Evan said nothing as he stepped away from the control panel. He walked to one of the chairs in his “living room”. He plopped down. “TB, as soon as you’ve figured out those coordinates, tell me. And get Tyler up here.”

**Why?**

“We need to tell him he’s the new captain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who had to rewrite this chapter six times????????? ME! But, I'm happy with the result, and I'm sorry for torturing Ohm so much, he's just so nice, it gets kinda fun.   
> Also, shit's goin down and things are gonna wrap up soon.  
> As always, thanks for reading and I love all the feedback!


	12. Rhododendrons

“So Nogla? What have you got?”

Daithi chuckled and held up two fingers. “I have two things for you. Come on in.” He stepped aside to let Evan into his messy quarters. Nogla was grinning from ear to ear with pride. He was obviously ecstatic and with every step Evan took over clothes or paper or anything made him more and more excited. 

Nogla turned around after reaching for something hidden underneath a shirt. “Here.” Evan took it and carefully examined it. “A phone?”

“No, not a phone. A wave transmitter. Okay, so get this: In the first technological age, this tech was used for, wait for it,  _ ghosts _ .”   
“What?”

“Basically, this thing reads millions to almost billions of different wave frequencies at once. The people then believed that the ghosts would speak at different wave frequencies and that if their little device read about 500 different frequencies at a time, they’d understand the ghost. But, it was loud as fuck, very annoying, and not very effective and clear. But you know what’s different now?”   
Evan shook his head. 

“This isn’t the first technological age. I changed up the program and boosted the range using the latest chip technology. It’s a little bulkier than I imagined, but that’s for the cooling system. That’ll heat up real quick with so much power and range. And it’s quiet. But basically, you’ll be able to be in contact with TB without having to transmit her essence itself. So, you’ll have TB by your side without having to move this ship in any way.”

“You got this from crazy old ghost tech?” Evan smiled. “Impressive.”

“I know. It’s good to be a nerd sometimes.” He smiled again and turned towards the desk his little panel rested on. “But, there’s also this, finally.” He held up a little blue earring. 

_ Oh.  _ “Did you get it to track Delirious?”

“Not quite. You won’t need to, you know where he is. It’s the second part to your device.”

“Huh?”

“The ghost reader is one-way. It’s how you receive her messages. This earring is your way back and your way to talk to TB.”

“Nice.”

“Oh, but there’s more.”

“Jesus Christ Nogla, move it along, I have places to be, big missions to prep for.”

Nogla rolled his eyes before leaning back. “It doesn’t necessarily  _ track  _ Delirious. But, it will tell you when you’re close to him.”   
“DNA?”

Nogla nodded. “That and subtle smells. But it mostly focuses on his voice. Easy tech. The hard part was getting it to transmit to the ship from so far away. Not to mention it’s tiny.”

Evan agreed, taking the earring from him. It was small, really small. Then a thought struck him. “Uh, how will I put it in my ear, I’m still missing my other earlobe and one already has-”

“It doesn’t need to be on synced to your brain. That’s where the compromise comes in. You will need to speak aloud, as it has a tiny mmic to pick up your voice. You just put it anywhere in your ear, like an old school earring. And this will automatically pierce for you as well. So you can just shove it through anywhere. An earring back will pop up after you pierce it and a disinfectant will coat the rod. You’re good.”

“Wow. Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it man. I love doing this. But, can I say something to you as a friend?”

“Sure.” Evan brought the earring to the high right point of his ear, having it pierce through the cartilage. He winced lightly but the disinfectant had a numbing effect, which he was grateful for. 

“What the fuck are you doing? I’m sure you’ve heard this lecture ten billion times at this point but like, you are throwing everything away for a guy you still barely know.”

“I know Delirious.”

“Do you?” Nogla sighed. “Do you really?”

“Yeah, I talked to him everyday for months.”

“Sure, Evan, sure. I just don’t get it. You have everything,  _ everything _ . And you’re throwing it away for this guy you’re infatuated with and for an answer you already know. I just don’t get it. I’ll help you, but please, please think about what you’re doing.”

“I don’t need to think about it, I’ve decided.”

“Mm-hmm. Off you go Evan. I’m gonna sleep.”

Evan sighed lightly, knowing Nogla didn’t like his response and walked out quietly, going to the loading bay to prep for his trip.

* * *

 

Delirious missed Hoot. His buddy. It’s lonely when you’re the favorite. He stared at the bleak ceiling. It’s been days since he left this blasted room. He sat up on the bed, wincing slightly at the pain that spread from the center of his back. They were too rough last time. He looked at the deep cut that went from his knee down to almost his ankle. 

He poked at the yellow and purple bruises that danced along his body. 10..11..12..13..14, all the way up to thirty. He felt so fucking tired. So.Goddamn. Tired. He needed a shower, clean all the dirt and sweat off. And what they left behind both on him and in him. He needed it out.

He rolled carefully off the bed, letting the sheets fall off of him lightly, revealing his body. He walked over to the the tiny dresser Eli had been  _ kind _ enough to provide and yanked on some boxers. He’s not supposed to leave but he stomped through the door after that, running face first into the guard.

“Hey! You're not allowed out here!” The guard shouldered his submachine gun threateningly.

Delirious rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah whatever. Look, I need a shower. Can you take me there?”

The guard shifted on his feet nervously. “Um.. I'm not sure if i can do that because of the Chief.”

“Well I don't think the  _ chief _ wants a dirty favorite.”

The guard gulped but chuckled quietly. “I've heard otherwise. He supposedly loves a dirty favorite.”

“Are you sure?”

The guard stopped laughing. “What?”

Delirious walked closer and closer to the guard. 

“Are you one hundred percent sure?”

“Uh-”

“Do you want to take that risk?” Delirious whispered in the guard’s ear.

The guard blushed and pushed Delirious away from him. “Fine, fine! Follow me, and I’m sorry but I’ll have to watch you.”

“Yeah, I know. Look man, I just need a shower.”

The guard nodded and gestured for Delirious to follow him. 

“Why are you so desperate for a shower?”

Delirious snorted before putting his hands behind his head. “What do they tell you about the favorite?”

“Well, everyone knows what they’re used for.”

“What I’m used for.”

The guard glanced at him, worried that he crossed a line. “No, it’s okay. Just talk to me like I’m a normal comrade. The last words said to me were ‘I you don’t tighten up, I’ll choke you to death so you do.’ so please, for the love of god. I am a fellow guard. But you can ask questions. That’s fine.”

:”Is that really the last thing said to you?”

“Yes. It was.” Delirious pointed to his leg. “Here, see this cut here. Fresh and deep. That’s for not swallowing.”

“Oh.”

“What? They tell you that the favorite enjoyed everything? That they were a dirty whore who enjoyed it?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, common mistake. I don’t hold it against you.”

“What?”

Delirious looked at him. “I’ve never seen you in one of the  _ sessions _ . You wouldn’t know otherwise. But, I hope you can see why I want a shower so badly.”

“Yeah, I can. Sorry.” 

“No apology needed. And don’t worry I won’t try to escape. There’s no reason to.”

“But, don’t you hate it?’ The guard stopped as they arrived at the showers. 

Delirious smiled sadly. “Of course I do. But where would I go? I burned some bridges and my friends are safe and no longer in this hell hole. There’s nowhere to go.” He sighed. “Enough of this depressing talk. Thank you for taking me to the showers. Most people wouldn’t do that. Seriously, thank you.”

The guard nodded.

Delirious later found out that the guard was killed and replaced the very same day.

* * *

 

“Okay TB, where should I land?” Evan said after gathering his thoughts after the rough entrance into the Earth's atmosphere.  

**Well, you need be able to get back to your ship. I say land next to the bunker.**

“But that'd be a big red flag saying that there's a bunker.”

**Obviously out of sight. Far but close.**

“Okay then…” He said. He leaned to his right and punched the coordinates into his navigation system. 

He watched as the white clouds below him turned into the green of the land. 

Evan could feel his excitement increase as he descended towards the Earth. He had heard the stories and already the colors were already taking Evan's breath away. So this was the sky everyone talked about. But, it wasn’t blue, it was a darker blue than what people described, and there were touches of orange in it. The sky seemed to light up, so different from the dark he was used to. 

After a smooth landing, Evan hopped out, making sure he had his communication devices. 

As soon as his feet hit the grass, he dropped to his knees so he could run his fingers through it, savoring the feel of it. It must’ve just rained on Earth, since the grass made his hands wet. It was an odd feeling, one he wouldn’t forget. In a way, it was almost like the grass was sharp, leaving an irritated feeling in his hands. He stood up, itching his hands.  _ Alright, where is this base? _

“TB, which direction do I need to go?”

**Looks like if you just head straight, you should be okay. Just walk for a ways.**

“Thanks.” Evan itched his hands again, beginning the walk forward. He was starting to regret feeling the grass. He scanned the area around him, looking for any sign of a bunker or base. It looked like he was in a valley. There was a lake about a mile to his left and then just plains for a little ways. There were a good number of trees, Evan didn’t know what type. Jonathan would know. 

He gathered his thoughts, and walked at a faster pace. He needs to find Ohm and Cartoonz.

* * *

 

“You’re still here?”

Shivers ran over Delirious’ body. He continued cutting the flowers of his sage plant. They’ll kill it. 

“You know this is abusing your privilege?” Eli said, leaning on the doorframe of the greenhouse.

Delirious said nothing. He set down the trimmers and pulled the blanket tighter around his bare body. He brought his knees up to his chest, back still turned to Eli.

He heard Eli sigh, irritated. Then the shuffle of clothing and the sound of footsteps approaching. Delirious shut his eyes. 

“I could kill you for that. I kill most for that.” Delirious held his breath, feeling Eli tug the blanket off of his body. He exhaled shakily.

Eli sat behind him, legs on either side of Delirious’ body, arms wrapping around his chest. Trapped. The hands slid down his torso, pausing on Delirious’ ribs.

He heard Eli inhale sharply. “It’s been more than two days.” No a question, a statement.

Delirious shook with fear. 

“How many days?”

Delirious still didn’t speak. One hand disappeared from his torso before his arm wrapped around his neck, effectively cutting off his airflow. Delirious clawed at the arm, choking. 

“HOW MANY DAYS?” Eli yelled, increasing the amount of pressure on Delirious’ windpipe. Delirious tried to choke out a word, but it just came out as unintelligible noises. He held up all five fingers on his left hand.

“FIVE DAYS?”

Eli let Delirious go, stepping back and running his hands through his hair. Delirious grasped his throat, coughing and sucking in air like he was drowning. He glanced at the rhododendron plant next to his sage plant. The flowers were in full bloom. Symbolic for danger. Typical.

Eli whipped around before smacking Delirious full-force across the face. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

Delirious rubbed his cheek, staring at the ground.

“ANSWER ME!”

“Two days…” Delirious said quietly.

“You ate some of your plants?”

Delirious nodded quietly.

“Any protein?”

Delirious didn’t say anything. 

Eli’s eyes narrowed. “Of course you’ve had no protein, just look at how much weight you’ve lost. Your ribs are basically out in the open. Look, I can’t have you looking like this. You become undesirable. And you know what happens when you look undesirable.”

_ The wall. _ It was an old story they had told him when he first became the favorite. Being the favorite was a tradition in Eli’s family, it had started with his grandfather, who was interested in men, but already married. And so, he chose favorites from his slaves and workers. Eli’s father did the same. As did Eli. But, when Eli's father was choosing favorites, there was one that everyone knew. His name was Chuck, a small black haired man with grey eyes. Everyone said he would’ve been ignored if it weren’t for his eyes. But,, a few months into it, he started starving himself, hoping to be undesirable so he’d no longer be the favorite. He thought he’d escape. But he was put in the wall. It’s a tiny box, just big enough for a person to lay down, with holes for, you know. That way, they could fuck the favorite and not have to look at them. That’s not the bad part. The bad part is that the favorite remains in that little room, in the wall, forever. Chuck was in the room, and all he did was sleep and service Eli’s father and his friends. He died of dehydration. He had killed himself to escape that hell. And every favorite after knew they had to take care of themselves or Eli would put them in the wall as well. Being the favorite fucking suckedd, but at least they could talk to other people. Being in the wall takes that away.

“I’m sorry. I was just worried.”

“About your plants?”

“No.”

Eli’s hands wrapped around Delirious’ torso again, more gently this time. Eli rested his foreead on Delirious’ shoulder. 

“Look, I’m sorry I killed that guard. I know that’s why you shut yourself in here. He disobeyed, and I can’t allow that.”

Delirious stared at the rhododendron flowers. These ones were purple, bright purple. The color of royalty, of nobility. He knew something was up. Eli was lying. He didn’t know how he knew, he just knew.

He felt Eli kiss his shoulder lightly, slowly moving up his neck, hands beginning to wander. Purple, such a pretty color. It can be subtle, it can be vivid, it can be soft.

“We’ll go one round, and then we’ll take you to get food.” Eli mumbled into Delirious’ neck. Delirious stared at the flower. He should’ve never planted it. He should kill it because it’s telling him the one thing he already knows:  _ Danger.  _

He felt Eli begin to enter him, no prep, and just stared at the thing he knew, the thing he knows.

_ Danger. _

* * *

 

“Shit, I didn’t expect Evan to be this early, god, it’s like five in the morning.” Ohm said, yanking no some grey sweats as the sounds of footsteps above him woke him up. He was gonna send Luke up there so Evan knew where to go, but that’s when  he woke up. Evan was too early. Ohm yawned and climbed the blank concrete stairs that led above ground. 

Once up there, he saw Evan in person and immediately understood why Jonathan would be drawn to him. He seems warm and protective. He looks like one of those people that smiles and brightens the room he’s in. He’s also more intimidating than Ohm had imagined. He approached Evan before holding out his hand for a handshake. 

“Hey Evan.”

Evan nodded and took Ohm’s hand. “Hey Ohm. NIce, uh, bunker you got there.”

Ohm snorted. “With our background, it’s necessary. But, did you have to arrive so freaking early?”

Evan frowned. “Early? It’s morning here right now?”

“Yeah, during sunrise.”

“Oh.” He blushed a little bit. “I thought it was sunset.”

Ohm chuckled. “Common mistake. Welcome to Earth. Here, follow me.” He turned around and went back into the bunker with Evan following.

The climbed down the stairs into the bunker. “Site here, I’ll get Cartoonz.” Before he left, he saw Evan look worriedly at a little black box before talking to himself, asking questions. Ohm shook it off and wet to go wake up Cartoonz.

Then he returned to a very worried Evan with a very tired and reluctant Cartoonz behind him.

“What’s wrong Evan?”

“I’ve lost contact with my ship all of a sudden…”

“Must be because we’re underground.” Cartoonz said, scratching his neck. “Can I get you something to drink?”

Evan shook his head. He leaned forward, determined. “How long?”

Ohm frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“How long until we can rescue Delirious?”

Ohm and Cartoonz glanced at each other. “I- i don’t know.” Cartoonz said.

“Can it be today?”

“What?”

  
“We’ll save him today. You said it’s morning, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then we have twenty-four hours to save Delirious.”

“Do have to go back to your ship or something?” Ohm asked.

Evan shook his head and glared at a few purple flowers in a vase on the table in front of him. “No. It’s just that Jonathan will  _ not  _ be the favorite for more than a day while I’m on this fucking planet.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for it being like a month since updating, I have been completely and utterly swamped with every single thing you can think of. But, I completely like nerded out this chapter and I love it.  
> Also, i had a lot of trouble writing this chapter cuz I have this trick. i figure out how I'm gonna start and end each chapter before I write them, and for this one, while I was brainstorming, I was really tired, so my brain was like no at the end of this chapter, Evan finds Del and Del is like "i'm pregnant." and I choked on my water and almost died of laughter.  
> As always, thanks for reading!


	13. Bathed in Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been ages. Again. I'm having trouble writing this, but we're getting there. I think the next chapter might be the last one. But I have an awesome idea for a new fic that I'm really excited for so that's cool. But anyways, I hope you enjoy and as always, thank you all for reading!

Delirious stared at the wall, feeling hands slowly tracing over his skin, giving him goosebumps. Fingers rubbed his lips. Blades scraped against his back. He felt his behind yanked up to meet one of the men. He stared at the drab walls. He missed the yellow glow and black walls of Evan’s ship. He missed Hoot. He missed Ohm. He missed Cartoonz. He missed so much.

But he didn’t regret it. He just has to wait it out. It took years to plan the last escape. Delirious glared at the wall, feeling his body being pushed and pulled in all directions. Just be patient.

He sighed carefully as the men slipped out of him and dropped Delirious’ tired body.

The men shifted around, rearranging themselves. The session must be over now. Delirious rolled onto his back and looked at the men, taking a mental note of who participated. Eli. His right hand man, Jameson. A few other faces he recognized. Three people he didn’t. He said nothing and looked at the ceiling. Patience. Eli will come back in a few hours and force him to eat. If he gives Eli a treat, maybe he’ll get to see his plants. Maybe he’ll get to tear out those damn flowers, one by one.

He closed his eyes and he thought of happier times. His mom, meeting Ohm and meeting Cartoonz. Meeting Evan. Trying to give himself some comfort. If he’s careful, he can go back to that. He heard all the men chatter as they left him in the room. _ Good riddance.  _ Delirious rolled on his side, curling into the fetal position. Might as well seep before the next round of hell begins.

A gunshot echoed outside his room, causing Delirious to jerk awake. He knew he had slept a while because his brain was still groggy. But he quickly scanned the room, dropping down to use the side of the bed facing the wall as cover. No immediate danger. He held his breath, listening to the commotion happening outside his room. 

He knew it.

He was a bad favorite. He didn't do enough, he talked back too much. He tried to starve himself, they must be ready to choose a new favorite. Which means dispose of the old one. It won't be a quick disposal, he'd be violently raped and tortured to death. Jonathan started panicking. No way out, they're coming for him. 

He scanned around for something to defend himself with.

Nothing, just one of Eli's shoes, the little dresser, a lamp.

Then it occurred to him. The mirrors. The ones on the ceiling. There were more gunshots and shouting outside his room. He yanked on some pants before quickly lunging for the shoe, throwing it full force at the mirror on the ceiling. He rolled over again so the shards would only sink into his back and a pillow covering his head. But no shards came. He cursed loudly. 

The lamp would be too light and just shatter itself, but the shards wouldn’t be very sharp. 

That leaves the dresser. He can’t throw the whole thing but he could grab a drawer.  He yanked it out of the dresser, and lobbed it at the ceiling before rolling onto his back and covering his head. He heard a loud crack within the mirror and braced himself. Then he heard the loud shatter as the mirror broke, right before he felt multiple pieces sink into his back. He yelled in pain, gritting his teeth, trying not to be too loud. But more shards sunk into his back, making it warm with blood and hot with pain. He felt one graze the side of his neck, feeling large amounts of blood start to seep out of it. Not good. At all. He hoped it hadn’t hit his jugular. He tossed the pillow aside and grabbed the shard that grazed his neck. Big and sharp. Good. He got up, gripping it tightly in one hand while using the other to apply pressure to his neck wound, trying to slow the bleeding. He took a deep breath and shakily hid himself in the shadows, feeling blood run down his entire body, ready for whoever comes into this fucking room.

* * *

 

“EVAN NO!”

Evan quickly took hold of the guard’s arm and shoulder, bracing himself before yanking it upwards and outwards, causing a loud snap, followed by screaming from the guard. “THAT WAS DELIRIOUS’ VOICE!”

Ohm whirled around to face him, blood dripping down his head from getting hit with the handle of a semi-automatic rifle. “I KNOW! YOU THINK I DIDN’T?! BUT CARTOONZ IS STILL FENDING SOME OF THE OTHERS OFF! YOU CAN’T JUST-”

“Behind you!” Evan warned.

Ohm didn’t even turn around. Just shot his pistol behind him, shooting the guard square in the chest, causing him to crumple to the ground. “Evan, you can’t just act on an impulse. What if there’s a session? What if Cartoonz is dying? YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME AND CARTOONZ WHEN YOU HEAR SOMETHING! WE ARE HERE TO SAVE HIM WITH YOU!” Ohm was clearly furious.

“But that was-”

“THAT WAS STUPID!” Ohm raised his pistol again, shooting a guard coming up behind Evan in the face.

“I’M SORRY!” 

“Whatever. Just go! Try not to die, gimme your ammo, and for the love of god, don’t be an idiot.” 

Evan nodded and tossed his spare clips to Ohm, who quickly caught them and ran back towards where they left Cartoonz. 

Evan whipped around and continued sprinting down the hallway. He had heard Delirious. He knew that voice. But it was his voice in pain. The thought made Evan run faster. Ohm and Cartoonz had told him in detail where the door was, so he knew where he was going. It was in the middle of the hallway on the right. He should know which one because of the guards and where they stood. He almost didn’t notice when he ran by it, but getting shot by one of the guards certainly caught his attention.

“OW!” He yelled, clutching his arm. He whipped around, seeing the two guards with their guns raised.

“Sir, don’t make us shoot you again. You are not allowed over here. Leave.”

They don’t know who he is. Good. They think he works here. Also good.

Evan sighed and slowly raised his hands, wincing slightly. “My bad, I was lost and I’m going to be late to a evaluation so I was running.”

The guards looked at each other before lowering their guns. “Here, we’ll help. Where is the evaluation?”

_ Nice guys.  _ “It’s on the other side of the-” He didn’t know the area well enough. He quickly dropped his good arm and yanked out his pistol, shooting both guards in the face. He pulled one of their bodies away from the door so he could get inside, careful to not step on the blood. He took a deep breath and walked into the room. He was immediately taken aback by the raw smell of sex. Clearly, there was a session recently. He walked forward slowly, looking around for any sign of Delirious. He should be here.

Then he felt something sharp against the front of his neck and a body pushing up against his back, causing him to take a sharp breath and freeze. He swallowed carefully.

“De-”

“Don’t fucking move or speak.” His voice was quiet and pained, but determined. Evan wondered if Jonathan knew it was him. 

“Deli-”

The sharp thing dug a little bit into his throat. Evan squeezed his eyes shut. Jonathan was going to kill him, but he needed to know it’s him. 

“I said no speaking.”

Evan felt his heart hammer against his chest in adrenaline and fear. Then, very quietly and carefully spoke.    
“Jonathan.”

He felt the body tense and freeze. Then before he knew it, the shard was gone and he was being looked at with those blue eyes he could recognize from miles away. 

“Evan..” Jonathan breathed. Blood was all over him, oozing from his neck, rolling down his back.

Evan took in his other injuries, the ones not covered by blood. Bruises, nasty yellow bruises, cuts everywhere. A few gunshot wounds that looked clean. Evan got angrier and angrier the more he looked, but Jonathan hugged him tight before he could say anything. He was about to hug him back when he stopped. 

“Jonathan! Your back…” Mirror pieces were protruding out of his back, each one bleeding, and each one deep. 

“It’s no big deal, I’m okay.” Delirious smiled, but Evan could see how much blood he was losing and how much it was pain he was in. His voice was too quiet compared to usual. His cheeks 

“It’s clearly not!” Evan pushed him away and held his face in his hands. “Jo-”

“Shh.” Jonathan interrupted. “You never know if someone is watching.”

“Delirious.”

He nodded carefully. “What?”

“I’m just so glad to see you.” Evan said before gently pushing their lips together. Delirious tasted well, bluntly put, not good. Blood, sweat, and things Evan preferred to ignore. He pulled away soon after, worried, because Delirious wasn’t responding.

Delirious was looking at him, but Evan couldn’t see Jonathan. “Del?” He asked.

Jonathan didn’t say anything.

“Del?”

Still nothing. Evan rubbed Jonathan’s cheeks with his thumbs, and looked at his face. 

“Delirious?” 

He was clearly still conscious and breathing, he just wasn’t  _ there _ .

“Delirious!”

He shook him slightly. “Hey…” It was deeply disturbing, seeing Delirious like this. He was about to hit him or something when he heard a loud scream from the hallway. He turned quickly to doorway, letting go of Jonathan.  _ Ohm!  _

Then he realized Delirious was approaching him. “Delirious?”

Once Delirious was in front of him, he dropped to his knees and leant towards Evan’s crotch.

“DEL?!” Evan put his hands on Delirious’ head, pushing it away.

He felt Delirious push against his hands, but not hard. He was still bleeding pretty heavily, and Evan knew he needed to get him medical help soon.

“Hey, Delirious.” Evan dropped to his knees too. He took one of Delirious’ hands and applied pressure with it onto Delirious’ neck wound. “It isn’t whoever you think it is. It isn’t Eli, or any of the other bastards. It’s me.” He kissed Jonathan on the forehead. “It’s me.”

He saw tears slowly well in Jonathan’s eyes. He pulled his hand away from under Evan’s, letting his neck bleed until Evan applied pressure himself. He covered his face with his hands. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be.”

“I just, you kissed me, and for the past months, I get kissed and then I have to continue, I have to do these things, I just escape into my head to make sure I don’t remember and I didn’t fully register it was you even though it was obvious, and I’m sorry, I’m disgusting and dirty and I almost killed you and even though you gave me everything and made me feel safe, I betrayed you and drugged you and stole from ou and made you come all the way down here just to save the me that doesn't deserve saving, there’s so much death, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” He was rocking forward and back, bloodstained tears being smudged by his hands trying to wipe away the tears that were faster. His breathing was heavy.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Evan wished he could hug him. Pull him close and never let him go. But he didn’t want to cause him any pain. Instead he pulled away Jonathan’s hands and used his to wipe the tears away. “There’s no possible way I could be angry at you.” He leaned in close and whispered his real name to him over and over, trying to soothe him the best way he could. 

Then he heard another scream from Ohm, closer this time. He whipped around to look at the door, pulling out his pistol and aiming at the door.

“Evan.”

“Shh.” Evan said lightly, still trying to calm him, yet completely focused on the door.

“ _ Evan. _ ”

“What?”

“Was that Ohm?”

Evan turned to look at Jonathan. Still crying, and face covered in worry. 

Evan sighed. “We’re not out of the storm yet. We need to get out of here and get you medical attention.”

Jonathan nodded. He stood up carefully.

“Keep pressure on your neck.” Evan said. Delirious nodded.

“Good, good.” Evan handed is pistol to Delirious. “And shoot with your other hand if we need to.”

“But, you won’t be arm-”

“Hop on.” Evan was crouching, ready to carry Del on his back.

“Oh. Okay.” Jonathan said, carefully hopping up, putting his legs around Evan’s torso. 

Evan hopped a little bit, getting Jonathan properly situated. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Delirious said weakly.

Evan nodded and walked out of the room with Delirious on his back. 

“Oh shit…” Evan said, taken aback.

The hallway was littered with bodies. There were easily twenty or thirty just around, blood flowing out of them like velvet.

He saw movement occasionally, but not enough or these people to be okay. It was the faintest struggle for life here or there, but nothing big.

“Evan!” 

Evan turned around, almost falling over because of Delirious. “OHM!”

“Ohm?” Delirious whispered.

Evan jogged over to the voice, hopping over the bodies.

“Ohm…” 

His arms were obviously broken, and there were multiple bullet wounds. “You got Delirious out safe!” He smiled. “That’s good.”

“Ohm!” Delirious said, wriggling against Evan. 

“Del, you can’t, you’re too weak to walk.”

“We don’t know that!”

“I do.” Evan said sternly.

He got onto his knees next to Ohm, examining his wounds. “Ryan! Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I can’t feel my arms, so I’m managing.” He smiled widely. “It’s good to see you Del.”

“Same to you. Where’s Luke?”

The smile melted off Ohm’s face. “Last I saw, he was by the red-headed guard over there.” He gestured with his head to his left. 

Del looked over there hopefully.

Evan felt one of his bullet wounds carefully. Seemed like a clean shot, clean enter and exit wound. “Good.”

He was reaching towards one of the other gunshot wounds when he felt Delirious fall off his back. More specifically, he pushed himself off Evan’s back. 

“Delirious!” 

He heard a loud yell as Delirious landed on his back, causing the shards to sink deeper into his back.

“SHIT! DEL!” He reached out. “Don’t move, Delirious. You’ll do serious damage, don’t move.” 

But Delirious crawled away, down the hallway, pushing bodies out of his way. “But, Luke. Luke isn’t moving. Cartoonz! Cartoonz! It’s me, listen. Move, do something, anything!”

Evan stood up, promised Ohm he’d be back, and jogged lightly to catch up to Delirious. “Hey I’ll go see if he’s-” He hesitated.

“Yes, alive. He’s alive, I know he is. He’s just unconscious. And not breathing, and blurry…”

Evan knew then that he was fading. He ran over to a body e soon recognized as Cartoonz. He quickly took his pulse. Focused on him. It was a faint pulse, slow, but there. 

He turned around smiling, ready to give Delirious some good news.    
“Del! He’s alive!”

He saw Jonathan’s unmoving back oozing blood around the shards sticking out of it.  _ Shit, he must’ve passed out from blood loss and pain. _

He jogged back to Ohm. “Ohm, what should I do?”

Ohm had also obviously passed out, probably due to pain. 

Evan sighed and ran his hands through his hair quickly. “Shit, what do I do?”

“Sweet mother of god, you guys are  _ annoying _ .” Evan froze and that voice and the sound of the safety being switched off on a gun.

“Eli.”

Evan felt the gun pointed at the back of his head shake slightly. 

“Hello, Mr. Fong. You seem to be in a predicament.” An annoyed chuckle. “It’s unfortunate that our second meeting must be bathed in blood.”


	14. Curious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's wrapped up now. I know it might be anticlimactic but for some reason I felt like it'd be something Eli'd do.   
> I hope ye enjoy!

“You got a good hold on him?” Eli asked. Evan ignored him and carefully pulled the now unconscious Delirious onto his back, same as before. He held his legs so he’d stay on his back, with his head resting on his shoulder. His hair was a mess and covered his hollowed face. He was pale and tired, and it showed. Evan swept the hair out of his face slowly.  _ I’ll get us all out of this. Somehow. _

He looked away from Jonathan so he could glare at Eli, who was standing there impatiently, arms crossed. Evan was surprised at how handsome Eli was in person. Well groomed, close cropped auburn hair that was gelled out of his face. Handsome green eyes were in perfect proportion with his face and jawline. But, Evan felt a cool sense of murderous intent, almost a sense of cruelty, of detachment, coming from him. His eyes were cold, his jawline too sharp, his clothing and hair too clean. Little blood splashes covered his clothes and exposed skin.

Men were bustling all around them, checking for pulses, toting the live ones to the medical wing, toting the dead ones to the morgue. Two men behind Eli had Cartoonz and Ohm, two men next to him had submachine guns. 

“Clearly you do.” Eli was still obviously enraged. “Jesus Christ, I want to shoot you. Look at this!” He gestured to the ground. “Do you know how much money these men cost? And, now I have to  _ personally  _ contact the dead ones’ families and tell them! Do you know how  _ tedious  _ that is?!”

He groaned loudly. “I mean, I knew you were coming, but I didn’t expect today! You crazy motherfucker! Did you even plan anything?” He scoffed. “Because to me, it looks like you obviously did not. Otherwise things wouldn’t be like this.”

Evan said nothing.

“And, you’re so calm! My snitches told me that you have quite the switch. Apparently, when the right buttons are pushed, you tend to go on quote, unquote, “rampages”. And all you’re doing is staring at me!” His cold eyes began to have an insane glint to them. The skin around them wrinkled as a smile crawled across his face. He walked towards Evan and grabbed his face. “I want to see you  _ break _ .” He pushed Evan’s head to the side and pulled away. Evan suddenly had a very good idea why Eli had sex slaves. 

Eli turned around and shrugged. “Whatever. It’s all in the past.” He looked over his shoulder at Evan. “Follow. We need to go fix the favorite. And his friends.”

It sounded so malicious, it made Evan want to run away with Delirious on his back. But, he couldn’t leave Ohm and Cartoonz, he knew that. He also knew Delirious would bleed to death if he didn’t get help soon. Evan wasn’t a skilled surgeon. He only knew the basics of first aid. He sighed. “Alright.”

“He speaks!” Eli chuckled to himself and started walking in front of his bodyguards. Evan followed behind and tried to formulate some sort of plan. But something that Eli had said bugged him. Snitches.  _ It can’t be the people, they’ve gone through both intense training and interrogation. I don’t think I’m hated, there’s never been any signs of hatred.  _

Evan stepped over a few bodies, trying to keep Delirious steady on his back as well.  _ I’m not sure, but I trust everyone on my ship completely, I don’t think that- _

Then it occurred to him. 

_ Eli designed my ship.  _

He glared at the back of his fucking head.  _ You have it wired, you piece of shit.  _ Evan grit his teeth. Patience. With patience, rewards will come. He took a deep breath and continued following Eli. So far, it seemed like they were going in a straight line.  

Evan took a deep breath before whispering. “TB. Whatever you do, don’t speak. You’ve been listening, I hope. Keep listening. I don’t know if I’ll need help, but I’m thinking I will. Keep listening, please.”

“Now, why the  _ fuck  _ are you whispering back there?”

Evan paused for a second. “I was whispering to Delirious.”

“Um, genius, he seems to be unconscious. Why are you whispering to someone who’s not listening?”

“Did your mother ever tell you that one’s subconscious is always active? I didn’t have a lot of time to catch up, unfortunately, so I’m whispering to him.”

Evan could practically feel Eli’s eye roll. He muttered something under his breath but Evan couldn’t quite make it out. He just followed him, trying to figure out what to do.

“Set him face-down right here.” The doctor said. Evan had no plan.

He carefully laid Delirious on the hospital bed. He looked up and saw some doctors already working on Ohm’s arms. He couldn’t see Cartoonz. Almost every other bed was full. Evan looked back to Delirious, worried. Eli was on the other side of the bed. Blood was already being pumped into him and his neck wound was already being treated.

“Will he-”

Eli interrupted. “How deep are the shards?”

The doctor frowned. “There’s no way I can know without cutting him open. Which, I will have to do.” 

“Do you think it’s in his spine?”

The doctor sighed. “Based on the placement and how deep I  _ think  _ they are, I’d say yes. Not all of them, but enough.”

“You think he’s lost movement in anything?”

“Eli! I don’t know. Probably. But maybe not. I need him awake and see if he can feel his limbs. So just wait!”

Wait they did. 

Delirious came to a little while later and tried to turn over. 

“No, no, don’t.” Evan said, reaching out and touching his shoulder lightly. Once Delirious recognized who it was, he nodded and laid back down properly.

“Alright Delirious.” The doctor said. Delirious twitched at the voice and turned his head to look at Evan. His eyes screamed questions.  _ Why are we still here? How has he not killed you? What’s happening? _

Evan just pet his head and shook his slightly.  _ Later. _

“Wiggle your toes for me?”

Evan watched as nothing happened. 

“You wiggling them?”

Del nodded.

The doctor sighed. “Move your legs for me?”

Nothing.

“Get him into surgery, now.” The doctor told his assistants before he glared at Eli. “He’s lost movement. They are definitely in his spine or at least around it. Nerve damage. This is why I told you to get rid of that fucking mirror. It was a safety hazard. He could’ve shattered it during one of the sessions. He could’ve killed you  _ and  _ me.” 

Evan kept petting Delirious’ head but looked away to glare at the doctor. He was one of the  _ bastards  _ that did this. The assistants made him move so they could get him into surgery. 

“That doesn’t matter Jackson.” Eli said. “It didn’t happen so it doesn't matter. What matters now is that  _ he  _ has lost his usefulness.”

Evan stared at Eli, knowing that this conversation is going in a bad direction. 

“So should I not do the surgery?”

Eli looked at Evan. “No. Do the surgery. But, don’t fix his legs. And bring him to me immediately after.”

“Sir?”

“Me and Mr. Fong have some business with him when he comes out. He can be asleep when he’s done, that’s fine.”

“Yes, sir.” The doctor walked off, following his assistants that were moving Delirious.

Evan spoke up then. Play along for now. “What about Ohm and Cartoonz?”

Eli sighed. “Even though I’m the shittiest person in this room, I’m honorable. We’ll let them go once they’re patched up. I keep my word.”

“Seems like a bad business decision.”

“What? Integrity? Maybe.” He glanced at the people in the other beds. “But, it’s something I value, and there aren't a lot who do anymore. Alright, Mr. Fong, follow me while we wait for our dear  _ lover  _ to get out of surgery.”

* * *

 

“Would you like something to drink?” Eli asked once they were inside a little bar area. There was a bar itself and a bunch of tables. It looked like an actual drinking hole. 

“No.”

Eli sighed and poured himself some scotch, before sitting down in a chair gesturing at Evan to sit in the chair across from him.

“Oh, would you  _ stop _ glaring at me?” Eli said, taking a sip from his glass, as Evan sat down. “I’m not your enemy.”

Evan scoffed. “Not my  _ enemy _ ?”

“He speaks!” Eli smiled and looked at the ceiling. “And no, I’m not. I expect you of all people would know that.”

Evan leaned forward. “Meaning?”

“I’m acting for the good of, well in a way, my legacy. Your family has done the same.” He took another swing of his drink and swirled it in the glass. “I know how they whipped you into shape because my family did it with me.”

“All for legacy?” Evan frowned. “No. I act for the good of the people on my ship.”

“And is that why your mom so desperately wants a grand baby? Is that why you were treated so harshly to become captain after “I” disposed of your father?”

“Was it not you?” Evan muttered.

“I was a year older than you when it happened. I was six years old, you were five. You think a six year old killed your father?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you, you sick fuck.”

Eli sighed. “Fair enough. But no, my father killed yours, and for the same reason I’m supposed to kill you.”

“Oh?”

“One word: Legacy.”

“Legacy, Legacy, Legacy, you sound like a broken record.”

“I don’t think you get it. Why are you the captain of my ship?” 

“Because my dad was a captain.”

“Why was he captain?”

“I’m sorry?”

Eli rolled his eyes. “Brings a whole new meaning to ignorance is bliss. Your dad was captain because your family had stolen the rights to it from my family.”

“Okay.”

“ _ Meaning  _ that from that moment on your family’s Legacy was set. The Fongs, the great captains that ruled the galaxy. And what about mine? We’re just the engineers that built the ship. That’s not our destiny.”

Evan was astonished. He couldn’t even be angry as hard as he tried. He was definitely worried and maybe a bit intimidated but he was amazed by how insane Eli was coming off as. What he was saying didn’t make any sense and yet he was so confident in it. It seemed like he thought it was his god-given right to kill Evan and destroy the Fong legacy. Which is ridiculous because there was no legacy to begin with. 

“Destiny? Legacy? Hate to tell you, but that’s all bullshit.”

“Tell that to those who raised us.” Eli finished his scotch. “Well, those who are still alive, anyways.”

Evan raised an eyebrow. “Who’s dead on your side?”

Eli stood up and went back to the bottle of scotch, losing the glass and taking the whole bottle. He sat on the little bar counter, further away from Evan. “Everyone.” He took a swig.

“But I thought your dad killed mine.”

“Yeah but some little rascal you and I both know very well killed him.”

“WHAT?”

“His mother was one of father’s favorites for a very small amount of time. She ran away, with Delirious in tow a little while into it. But my father sent his lackeys in a local gang after them. The lens that raped and killed her and ripped out little Delirious’ eyes. He was old enough at that point to understand. After that, he hunted my dad down and killed him.”

“Yet you took him as a favorite.” Evan said. It was a bizarre situation. He’s casually talking to the main he desperately wants to get rid of like he’s a friend. It was unsettling. 

“Yeah, I did. At the time, I was still too young. That was really before I understood what the favorite actually did. I was clueless. I was just so drawn to him, so unbelievably drawn to him. Drawn to his suffering? His determination? His beauty? The sex? The warmth, the cold, the blood? I don’t know. And so, instead of killing him like I was told too, I kept him around.” Eli met Evan’s eyes knowingly.

Evan felt shivers run down his back because he realized he did the exact same thing. 

“And eventually he became my favorite. You know the rest.”

“So favorites can be both genders?”

“Curious, are we?” 

“Well, it’s not like we have anything better to do.”

“You could get drunk with me.”

“Not happening.”   
Eli sighed and took a sip. “Or just skip all this foreplay and just let me kill you now.”

“Also not happening.” Evan was suddenly happy about the distance between him and Eli.

“Figured I’d offer.” Another swig. “And yes, the favorite can be any gender you want. When you have the amount of power I have, it doesn’t matter.”   
“Why Delirious?”

“Why do  _ you _ like him so much?” Eli countered. Evan said nothing in response, he didn’t  care to reveal that information to this shithead. 

Eli sighed. “Exactly.”

“Why do you do the things you do to them?”

Eli laughed, causing Evan to flinch. “I thought you would’ve figured that out already.”

“What?”

“It’s an easy answer Evan.”   
“Oh?”

“Because I don’t feel anything anymore. Watching that amount of suffering mixed with mass amounts of pleasure is such a high. It wasn’t always like that. I spoiled him for ages. Did he tell you that? I gave him anything and everything he wanted and I had the sweetest sex ever with him, just us two, he was happy. I was content. But I became this monster. I know the things I do. I’m selfish and there’s no excuse for it. I just grew into this. I blame our destiny, the  _ legacy _ , the life I’ve lived.”

“Earlier you said you were doing this for legacy, now you’re blaming it?”

“It’s my job to do this for my legacy.” He looked at his lap. “Doesn’t mean I like it.” 

“Then why do it?”

“I wouldn’t be anything if I didn’t. Look, I know I’m the villain. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m your enemy.”

“I’d say you’re one of my enemies.”

“Maybe.”

They sat in silence for a little while as Evan just watched Eli drink his scotch. He broke the silence with something that was bugging him.

“Why won’t you fix Delirious’ legs?”

“Hm?”   
“His legs. Why won’t you let the surgeon fix them? We have the technology to do so.”

“Punishment.”

Evan frowned. “I’ll fix them even if you don’t.” He muttered.

“Oh, really? Please do.” 

Evan stared at him, baffled. Trying to see what he meant. 

“The surgery is taking a long time.”

“Indeed it is.”

Evan stood up. “I think I’m going to go check on Oh-” He froze when he heard the safety come off a pistol.    
“I don’t think so. Sit down.” Eli said behind the gun he had pointed at Evan.

Evan carefully sat back down, hands raised. It was amazing how he felt so trapped because of this man. It was like slowly being strangled, even though it was so casual. 

“I thought we were past this.” Evan said.

“Did you forget the part where I’m supposed to kill you?” Eli frowned. “Just sit there and wait.”

Evan exhaled shakily. 

“No hard feelings, okay?”

Evan closed his eyes, waiting for the bullet.

“Oh, they’re here!”

Evan exhaled in relief as Eli lowered the gun. He watched as Cartoonz, who looked like he fully recovered, wheeled in Delirious with Ohm following, both arms in casts. Delirious was still unconscious. A fact that Evan was grateful for.

“Hello boys!”

Ohm and Cartoonz didn’t say anything, just wheeled Delirious next to Evan and stood on either side of Evan. 

“What do you want Eli?”

There was a long pause before he tossed the gun on the ground, causing it to slide in front of Evan. “I want you to kill me.”

Evan stood up and grabbed the pistol. “Okay.”

“What?” Both Eli and Cartoonz asked this.

“You want death? Alright.”

Eli smirked. “Do it.”

Evan looked at him. “Oh, you thought I was going to do it? No, unfortunately for you, I’m going to let the person who really wants to kill you do it.” Evan turned around and put the gun into Delirious’ lap.

He saw a little look of panic cross Eli’s face. “What?”

“We’re going to wait until he comes to, and then he’ll grant your wish, give you what you want.” He turned and smiled at Eli. “That’s what the favorite does, right?”

* * *

 

“Del, it’s okay, just walk forward.” 

Ohm sighed from the opposite side of the room. “Evan, Jonathan isn’t going to do it.”

“Shut up!” Jonathan snapped. “I’m just, getting ready.”

“It’s temporary anyways.” Evan leaned forward so he was next to Delirious. “It was set up so you only lost movement hamstrings down. I designed these braces myself, they’re automated and have sensors. They’ll be your eyes until we get around the brain damage that doctor did.”

He saw Delirious shiver. He gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

“Just trust me.”

Jonathan took a deep breath and took a step forward. “That was- I can walk normally.”

“Good.” Evan said. “Now, it’s not completely automated. It’ll guide you, help you when you come close to obstacles or something you won't be aware of. And you’ll still have to report to Brock for PT.”

“Evan, I’ve been blind before. I’ll be okay.”

“I know.” 

Evan watched as Delirious walked around the room. He felt a small rush of pride. He walked over to Tyler. 

“You enjoying being the captain?”

“There’s advantages and disadvantages.” 

“Well, even if you want to quit, I won’t go back. Ever. I’d much rather build things.”

“I know.” Tyler said, leaning against the wall. “You and him seem happy, despite everything. I’m glad.”

“Me too. It wasn’t fun.” 

Tyler chuckled. “I heard he wants to go back to Earth.” He gestured to Delirious. 

“From TB. She and Hoot have a little robot thing going.” He said after he saw Evan’s questioning look.

“Yes. He does.” Evan looked back at Delirious, who was currently getting teased by Ohm and Cartoonz. They were laughing. “But, we need to get around his eyesight. I didn’t expect that Eli would tell the surgeon to damage his brain so he wouldn’t be able to see. The optic nerve is one thing, but the actual brain…”

“I understand.”

“Eventually, yes. I’ll ask you to take us to Earth.”

“Evan!” 

Evan immediately jogged over to Delirious.

“What’s up, are you alright? Are you in any pain?”

Jonathan ran his hand along Evan’s face, searching, fingers resting on his lips. He leaned forward and kissed him lightly.

“Jon?” 

“Thank you. For these.” 

Evan smiled warmly. 

“No, thank _you_.”

“What for?”

“Everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I left a lot of things open to the imagination, but if anyone has questions, I'll happily answer them. It was weird to write this chapter because when I wrote it, trying to answer my own questions and get my point across clearly, it was blocky and didn't flow properly, so I don't know.  
> But, I hope you enjoyed the story!


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